The push to legalize marijuana in Colorado has already begun, and starting Friday, Colorado Springs will get its first real taste of the campaign. A pro-marijuana group called Citizens for Responsible Legalization has paid for a TV spot that will air for about a month in Colorado Springs, and has also paid for several mail ads promoting legalization.
The 30-second video, titled “Coffee shop,” features an ordinary-looking soccer mom sitting at a table at (surprise!) a coffee shop. The woman suggests a “new approach” to marijuana, and suggests legalizing marijuana could be a gold mine.
“It’s not that I like it personally, but it’s time for a conversation about legalizing marijuana. It’s a $400 million industry in Colorado, and we get no benefit,” she says. “What if we regulate it? Have background checks for retailers, stiff penalties for selling to minors. We could tax it to fund schools, law enforcement, health care. And we’ll control the money, not the gangs. Let’s talk about a new approach.”
Attorney Brian Vicente, who represents CRL, said the group is testing the political waters specifically in El Paso County.
“We want to see if this moves people,” said Vicente. “We’re just going to kind of see how it goes in Colorado Springs. This is a reasonably-sized city, with a lot of common sense.”
Though CRL is funded by both local and national organizations, Vicente said the primary backer of the group is Peter Lewis, who founded Progressive Auto Insurance.
Coloradans will most likely face a ballot question next year that would legalize marijuana possession, but CRL doesn’t have anything to do with the campaign for the initiative. CRL does, however, share the same goal, said Vicente.
“This is a reasonably-sized city, with a lot of common sense.”
…and a lot of tree huggers and college kids who love their weed which is where the market is.
I noticed that the word “medical” is not mentioned in this article anywhere. Is it that the current pot heads are getting tons of pressure from the true medical community to get on their own bandwagon and it’s forcing them all to expose themselves for what they really are? You know, not AIDS or cancer patients or anyone with true, legitimate medical issues whatsoever that they want you to believe: just regular pot heads who want to get high as I’ve been saying all along?
I think this “industry” would have been a lot better off if they just came out straight forward from day one and let the public know what their REAL agenda was instead of hiding under the umbrella of a legitimate industry (the medical community). It would have probably been shot down immediately but at least they would have known where they stood.
But there’s still the issue of marijuana being ILLEGAL at the Federal level no matter what results from a vote at City, County or State level. What is the plan to get around this? It can’t be legal and illegal at the same time!
You can not run ads for Cigarettes but POT no problem…don’t you see a problem here?
Hey Media, Brian and CRL are fraudulently marketing their language as legalization when they admitted to the Title Board that not only are they NOT legalizing it, they didn’t intend to and that is why the word legalization appears nowhere in their language. As an attorney, Brian Vicente should be ashamed of himself for this FALSE marketing. And how about reading the language–if this passed nothing would happen until 2014 , not 2012. And it might never happen as there is no way to force implementation of the language. The Title board was clear that legalization would mean removing all criminal penalties from the books. They remove NO criminal penalties. Do your homework before you write a story as this is just more yellow journalism and your repeating mis information.
First–
We have the proponents of this language, Mason Tvert(SAFER), Brian Vicente(Sensible) and Steve Fox (MPP) on audio and video saying to the Colorado Title Board that their language was NOT legalization and they DID NOT intend to legalize in CO…….
….the proponents admit they are not for legalization and then strangely, they collect signatures by asking people if they want to legalize marijuana like alcohol. The Title Board also agreed they could not have the like alcohol in the title as that would also mislead voters.
The Title Board told CRL/SAFER/Sensible/MPP/DPA that their language WAS NOT LEGALIZATION so they could not use legalization in their title.
The title board clarified that legalization would require removing all criminal statutes from the books and the above mentioned petition does not remove ANY criminal statutes from the books.
It was Laura Kriho from CTI who embraced the word legalization at their title board hearing, not YOUR coalition. We will have to post the video so you can see that YOU and your coalition are the “stoners against legalization in CO” and your doing it under the guise of legalization. It’s disgusting.
And,
Coloradans support cannabis being regulated for what it is–
“the safest therapeutic substance known to man.” quote DEA Judge Frances Young
Since there is NO SCIENTIFIC evidence to show that cannabis directly and on it’s own creates car accidents….. the actual people of Colorado do not want to enshrine DUI marijuana into our constitution. And people across the world have been smoking and driving w/o hassle (if you abide by normal driving law) or accidents since the war on the tree of life began.
Not to mention the constitution grants/preserves RIGHTS and all DUI laws in CO are not in the constitution as they do not grant rights, they state limitations. They belong in state statute so they can be changed when necessary. SAFER/Sensible/MPP/DPA/NORML should consider a lobbyist and not a constitutional amendment, so Coloradans won’t be slave to your pussyfooting limits in our constitution which will cost hundreds of thousands to change/correct, if it ever gets changed.
Lets remember it’s your out of state coalition who brought Colorado A20. They told us they would “fix it later” and “it’s just symbolic” back in 1997 before it was submitted for title. Now 11 years later, the poorly written language (unanimously so says the Colorado Court of Appeals) of A20 still not “fixed” and the Appeals Court rules 2-1 and just like that Colorado found out it has no rights–NO ONE. Not patients and not caregivers. When is your coalition coming back to fix the mess you’ve made to mmj in Colorado? Or how about stay out of our state and send the money to PAY for cleaning up the shit you left in our constitution 11 years ago.
Nor do we want to enshrine the 21 year old age limit into our constitution. You see our medical language allows for a an infant to have it with 2 doctor recs. Is that “anarchist”? cause A20 was your coalitions language. Apparently at one point your coalition understood science and the term (no known LD50 –lethal dose) Apparently at one point you understood this to be the safest therapeutic substance known to man.
Nor do we want to enshrine 1 ounce into our constitution or 6 plants and for good reason. Plant count means cops need to come into your home and count. We are currently living through it with mmj and it has not been good for patients or caregivers, especially when our constitution currently says 2 ounces, 6 plants or whatever is medically necessary. How did Colorado end up with actual POT COPS in 2010? How is that even a baby step forward? When can we take the adult step?
The cops, the general assembly and apparently now even YOUR coalition (many of whom provided the language for A20–seem to forget the “whatever is medically necessary” and the option of registering or not and the no age limit–cause that’s what passed in CO). Cops don’t get to decide what is medically necessary, a patient and a caregiver do. We won that one in Boulder court. It’s looking like your coalition has sold out to law enforcement, the media and big business–seems an awful lot like 1937 reefer madness to me.
Too many of us understand the history of cannabis. After all it was big business the government and law enforcement coupled with yellow journalism (like your article) that brought us REEFER MADNESS some 74 years ago. Clearly nothing has changed. Why 6 plants and not 7 or 8? Instead of educating the general public to the FACT that cannabis CANNOT be lethal, you buy into the BS lies for reefer madness and sell out our constitutional language to the real prohibitionists. What your coalition is creating is for profit prohibition in an oligopoly.
A20 has never being fixed though, and most have no idea how Colorado’s MMJ constitutional rights are being bashed. You do not get daily calls about card carrying patients and caregivers currently being arrested at more increased rates than in the last 11 years of our mmj rights.
The “confidential mmj registry” with the health dept has been compromised with the Dept of Revenue and all other law enforcement including the DEA (per verbal request). Patients are not renewing their registry cards (less then 1/2 the rate of last year)
CRL/SAFER’s language mimic’s hb1284, the cause of the demise of Coloradans MMJ RIGHTS. Sensible and Brian Vicente helped write and supported hb1284. And It was NORML who brought the shitty 5 nanogram THC in whole blood DUI limit to Claire Levy (D) Boulder. The people who actually live in Colorado had to waste 5 months fighting that BS and we did get it killed. Now your coming back for a second try? How about get the heck out.
I guess that’s why your “national coalition” submitted (carpetbagged) your language a year early–your gonna need the extra year to try to lie and mislead voters about who is working for their rights and who is not. This article isn’t gonna do much good for the cause but I credit you for attempting to continue reefer madness in 2011.
I left Chicago because of all the B.S. CRIME, DRUGS, corruption,,taxes, Illegals, not enough police to handle the crime , LOKS LIKE I SHOULD HAVE STAYED THERE. no beter here, IN fact at least Chicago had laws.
I saw the add and thought it was very effective.
I say it’s about time! Look at the history and reasons why marijuana was criminalized 80 years ago, compare it to alcohol, and you may see the brilliance in legalizing and regulating it.
Bon nuoc…
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[...]Pro-marijuana TV ads to begin Friday – Second Reading : Colorado Springs Gazette, CO[...]…