[Mb-civic] High in Denver

[Reeeees at aol.com]

Mile High City Legalizes Pot Possession  
By  JON SARCHE, AP
 
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DENVER (Nov. 2) - Residents of Denver  have voted to legalize the possession 
of small amounts of marijuana for adults.  Authorities, however, can still 
file state drug charges against  offenders. 
With 100 percent of precincts reporting  early Wednesday, 54 percent, or 
56,001 voters, cast ballots for the ordinance,  while 46 percent, or 48,632 
voters, voted against it. 
Under the measure, residents over 21  years old could possess up to an ounce 
of marijuana in Denver, which is  nicknamed the Mile High City for its 
elevation. 
"We educated voters about the facts  that marijuana is less harmful to the 
user and society than alcohol," said Mason  Tvert, campaign organizer for SAFER, 
or Safer Alternatives For Enjoyable  Recreation. "To prohibit adults from 
making the rational, safer choice to use  marijuana is bad public policy." 
Bruce Mirken of the Washington,  D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project said he 
hoped the approval will launch a  national trend toward legalizing a drug 
whose enforcement he said causes more  problems than it cures. 
However, many opponents of the measure  said it made no sense to prevent 
prosecution by Denver authorities while  marijuana charges are most often filed 
under state and federal law. 
Seattle, Oakland, Calif., and a few  college towns already have laws making 
possession the lowest law enforcement  priority. 
The Denver proposal seemed to draw at  least as much attention for 
supporters' campaign tactics as it did for the  question of legalizing the drug. 
Tvert argued that legalizing marijuana  would reduce consumption of alcohol, 
which he said leads to higher rates of car  accidents, domestic and street 
violence and crime. 
The group criticized Mayor John  Hickenlooper for opposing the proposal, 
noting his ownership of a popular  brewpub. It also said recent violent crimes - 
including the shootings of four  people last weekend - as a reason to legalize 
marijuana to steer people away  from alcohol use. 
The measure would not affect the  medical marijuana law voters approved in 
2000. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court  ruled that medical marijuana laws in 
Colorado and nine other states would not  protect licensed users from federal 
prosecution. 
Also Tuesday, voters in the ski resort  town of Telluride rejected a proposal 
to make possession of an ounce or less of  marijuana by people 18 or older 
the town's lowest law enforcement priority. The  measure was rejected on a vote 
of 308-332.
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