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
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
Written by:
and we must also ask ourselves, exactly what is this 'positive effect'?
your reasoning requires the prior assumption that 'recreational drug use in society is inherently wrong' and that is a very personal and subjective view.
"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: dave
do you believe that use of mdma would not be even higher than it is (in the UK), if it were legally and openly sold in shops, pubs and clubs?
Written by: dave
My reasoning in no way requires the assumption that drug use is inherently wrong.
Written by: dave
In the same way, I don't think anyone sees drug legislation as being a way to bring about zero usage, but instead, as a way of reducing drug use.
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
"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!
After much consideration, I find that the view is worth the asphyxiation.
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I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
"is optimism in austria just a lack of information?"
-Alfred Dorfer
Written by: coleman
...so continuing from there, i think your 'why alcohol/tobacco use leads to abuse list' is missing two important points:
5. alcohol use has been gradually ingrained into our society for many centuries and as such, short-lived or mild forms of abuse have become socially acceptable.
6. tobacco use was encouraged for many, many years before the truth about its effect on the body was admitted and as such, it has a huge advantage in terms of its current user-base.
"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!
Contact juggling was invented by dung beetles.
Written by: Sethis
I would throw in another point for consideration here:
...This would appear to indicate that if something (drugs/alcohol etc) is illegal, then the people who break the law to use it are not going to use it responsibly or safely.
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**
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.
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**
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.
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: i8beefy2
I disagree Dave, and we've discussed why on other threads, with the sentiment that addiction is something we need to protect people from by making something illegal. Despite everything you have presented me with in terms of addicts not being able to stop, I still maintain that it is a willpower issue. People are creatures of habit, so yes, if they do something for so long it becomes engrained in them, but habits can be changed they same way they were aquired: slowly and painfully (because its something you don't really want to do).
Written by: i8beefy2
Where I'm going though is here: I don't feel the government has any responsibility to protect us from our own stupidity. Or rather, it doesn't have the RIGHT to CONTROL our stupidity when it doesn't violate the social contract. I know alcohol is involved in a lot of crime, but just because someone get's stupider when under the influence, that doesn't mean its the drugs fault.
Written by:
REGARDLESS of whether or not something is addictive, people go into usage in full knowledge that that is a possible outcome.
"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: i8beefy2
I disagree Dave, and we've discussed why on other threads, with the sentiment that addiction is something we need to protect people from by making something illegal. Despite everything you have presented me with in terms of addicts not being able to stop, I still maintain that it is a willpower issue. People are creatures of habit, so yes, if they do something for so long it becomes engrained in them, but habits can be changed they same way they were aquired: slowly and painfully (because its something you don't really want to do).
Written by: i8beefy2
Where I'm going though is here: I don't feel the government has any responsibility to protect us from our own stupidity. Or rather, it doesn't have the RIGHT to CONTROL our stupidity when it doesn't violate the social contract. I know alcohol is involved in a lot of crime, but just because someone get's stupider when under the influence, that doesn't mean its the drugs fault.
Written by:
REGARDLESS of whether or not something is addictive, people go into usage in full knowledge that that is a possible outcome.
Written by: i8beefy2
Note: I'm not chastising you for always posting these warnings and admonitions about smoking and drinking and drugs... go for it. There are far too many uneducated people in the world for that to ever be a bad thing.
Written by: i8beefy2
I was going to draw a parallel to guns and the right to bear arms, and then realized that a good number of you are from across the pond so that analogy probably wouldn't work well...
"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: i8beefy2
Where I'm going though is here: I don't feel the government has any responsibility to protect us from our own stupidity. Or rather, it doesn't have the RIGHT to CONTROL our stupidity when it doesn't violate the social contract. I know alcohol is involved in a lot of crime, but just because someone get's stupider when under the influence, that doesn't mean its the drugs fault.
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.
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: i8beefy2
I understand that we have a conflict of view on the point of addiction, Dave. I actually want to read up on this fellow you always ......
Written by: i8beefy2
However, you are talking about addiction to CIGARETTES, which ARE physically addicting, etc. There are other real, physical elements there. Same for alcohol. However, marijuana is NOT physically addicting, so I feel I can safely maintain my view, so long as the physically addicting element is the deciding factor, and I'd be happy to discuss that more.
Written by: i8beefy2
Who chooses what are possitive and negetive effects?
......In essence, it may have no possitive benefits to you because your looking at it from a health standpoint, but to lots of people I know, it has a great number of benefits that are hard to quantify, or maybe Im just too tired to try. By this argument, alcohol should be illegal, and for a similar reasoning, I feel that is silly too.
"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!
-James
"How do you know if you're happy or sad without a mask? Or angry? Or ready for dessert?"
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.
"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!
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.