Written by: www.cannabisculture.ca
DENVER LEGALIZES MARIJUANA 53% - 46%!
by CC Magazine update (01 Nov, 2005)
Denver voters make adult possession of one ounce or less of marijuana legal.
Denver became the first city in the nation to make the private use of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older as an alternative to alcohol, a far more harmful drug. By 10.45 p.m. Tuesday night, with 100% of the votes tallied, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative had passed 53.49% YES to 46.51% NO.
The Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative is the first local measure in the nation to draw a comparison between the harms of alcohol and marijuana.
The successful I-100 campaign focused on the vast number of health, safety and social problems associated with alcohol use, promoting marijuana use to avoid the prevalence of such problems. The campaign pointed to government reports and scholarly studies that show alcohol is a contributing factor in domestic violence, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes, as well as overdose deaths, whereas the use of marijuana has never been linked to such violent behavior and there has never been a marijuana overdose death in history.
Colorado Medical Marijuana certificate
Colorado Medical Marijuana certificate
"It is time our laws reflect the facts, and it is an indisputable fact that marijuana is safer than alcohol, both to the user and to society," said Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER and coordinator of the I-100 campaign. "Current laws accept and even encourage the use of alcohol over marijuana, thus pushing people toward using a more harmful substance. Why on earth would we prohibit an adult from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol in their own home?"
By approving the I-100, the use of marijuana in public, the use of marijuana by people under 21, driving under the influence of marijuana, and the cultivation and distribution of marijuana would all remain illegal, much like with alcohol.
Cannabis Culture will update this story as more details become available.
Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) is a Colorado-based non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the harmful consequences associated with alcohol, as compared to the safer — yet illegal — substance: marijuana.
Here is the language of the Initiative-100
Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative
WHEREAS, according to the National Institutes of Health, an average of 317 Americans die annually as the result of alcohol overdoses; and
WHEREAS, there has never been even a single fatal marijuana overdose recorded in the medical literature, as noted by the British Medical Journal in September 2003; and
WHEREAS, according to U.S. Department of Justice, “About 3 million crimes occur each year in which victims perceive the offender to have been drinking at the time of the offense. Among those victims who provided information about the offender’s use of alcohol, about 35% of the victimizations involved an offender who had been drinking”; and
WHEREAS, extensive research, documented in official reports by the British government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and the Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, among others, shows that -- unlike alcohol -- marijuana use is not generally a cause of violence or aggressive behavior and in fact tends to reduce violence and aggression;
WHEREAS, it is the intent of this ordinance to have the private adult use and possession of marijuana treated in the same manner as the private adult use and possession of alcohol;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER
________________________________________________________________________
TEXT OF PROPOSED INITIATIVE
(proposed addition in all caps, underlined)
Amend Art. 5, Div. 3, Sec. 38-175 (Revised Municipal Code)
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE (21) to possess one (1) ounce or less of marihuana. If such person is under the age of eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the offense, no jail sentence shall be imposed and any fine imposed may be supplanted by treatment as required by the court.
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
After much consideration, I find that the view is worth the asphyxiation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Written by: Sethis
And personally, anything to stop the 13 yr olds drinking and dying of liver failure can only be a good thing.
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
Written by:
WHEREAS, according to the National Institutes of Health, an average of 317 Americans die annually as the result of alcohol overdoses
Keep your dream alive
Dreamin is still how the strong survive
Shalom VeAhavah
New Hampshire has a point....
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
Keep your dream alive
Dreamin is still how the strong survive
Shalom VeAhavah
New Hampshire has a point....
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
Written by: coleman
seye - alcohol related death figures are far higher than overdose figures.Written by:
I know. I said that. I cant believe that such a small number occur in such a large country though.Written by: coleman
and i'm afraid i think you'll find that no-one has ever died from a cannabis overdose - not smoking, not eating, not even injecting.
the amount you would have to eat to overdose is prohibitive by itself.
Chiiiiiil Winstaaaan!
I just thought I remembered something about there actully being one case - thats all though, ever. I could of course be wrong.
I know its extremely difficult to do. Anything is possible though. You can even die from nutmeg overdose
Written by: coleman
seye - alcohol related death figures are far higher than overdose figures.Written by:
I know. I said that. I cant believe that such a small number occur in such a large country though.Written by: coleman
and i'm afraid i think you'll find that no-one has ever died from a cannabis overdose - not smoking, not eating, not even injecting.
the amount you would have to eat to overdose is prohibitive by itself.
Chiiiiiil Winstaaaan!
I just thought I remembered something about there actully being one case - thats all though, ever. I could of course be wrong.
I know its extremely difficult to do. Anything is possible though. You can even die from nutmeg overdose
To do: More Firedrums 08 video?
Wildfire/US East coast fire footage
LA/EDC glow/fire footage
Fresno fire
-James
"How do you know if you're happy or sad without a mask? Or angry? Or ready for dessert?"
Hij die zijn kind benzine voert moet niet roken als het boert.
Love you MyIng
Spin, bounce, be one with the world, because it is yours to enjoy...
I AM NOT A GAY MAN!
Hij die zijn kind benzine voert moet niet roken als het boert.
Love you MyIng
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
I was always scared with my mother's obsession with the good scissors. It made me wonder if there were evil scissors lurking in the house somewhere.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
**giggles**
Written by: pounce
i think this is an awesome step though. all different preventative measures have been taken to reduce drug use and its harmful effects, but none have significantly worked
"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."
--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32
Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!
Written by: onewheeldave
Personally, I don't care whether weed is legal or illegal; but, to re-introduce a point made on an earlier drugs thread- how do you know that preventative drug measures haven't reduced drug use?
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
I was always scared with my mother's obsession with the good scissors. It made me wonder if there were evil scissors lurking in the house somewhere.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
**giggles**
"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."
--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32
Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!
Written by: onewheeldave
Any details of the studies? I don't want to appear cynical, but studies can be highly flawed.
I'm not sure what point you're making about MDMA, could you clarify how it shows that legislation does not lower use?
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
Written by: coleman
i think we can say with a good degree of certainty that we know for a fact that the mdma laws did not lower use - all reports suggest that the use of mdma has increased hugely in the last 20 years.
"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."
--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32
Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
Written by: coleman
my evidence for the assertion that "we know for a fact that the mdma laws did not lower use" is: mdma use has increased.
i said "at best, legislation has only served to slow the rate of increase of the usage of the drugs they apply to."
which is equivalent to saying "mdma laws did lower use (compared to the use there would have been without the laws)."
Written by: coleman
my question to you is this:
if, as we both agree, legislation only serves to slow the rate of increase of usage of a drug, rather than actually serving to decrease its usage, then why should we assume that legislation will ultimately lead to usage reaching zero?
"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."
--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32
Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!
Written by: coleman
personally, i think that the time, money and effort spent on enforcing legislation that does not in real terms reduce the usage of a drug, would be better spent on ensuring that those drugs are both ethically produced and properly regulated.
I was always scared with my mother's obsession with the good scissors. It made me wonder if there were evil scissors lurking in the house somewhere.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
**giggles**
Using the keywords [denver leagalise * weed 1] we found the following existing topics.