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.
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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.
If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh
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.
Written by: beefy
Ah but see those are recreational advantages not unlike poking smot at all (the watching it, the its fun and you like 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!
Written by: Drudwyn
The majority of the time, you are correct. I beg to be the exception to the rule. I enjoy smoking, alchohol and marijuana, and would like to point out I am not addicted to any of them. Every now and then, I'll decide i want a cigarette, in the same way I'll choose to have a chocolate bar or a pint. I enjoy the head rush and lightness that I feel. I do not smoke regularly, and do not feel anxiety, distress or any other withdrawal symptom. I smoke cannabis with tobacco, and yet do not feel the need for tobacco afterwards.
I have not smoked or drunk alchohol in a few days now, and I can keep that up for months with out any difficulty. I've been doing this for three years now, and in all that time I have only considered myself addicted for a couple of months during the winter of 2004/2005. My addiction stood at 5 a day. That was easy to break out of, and today I will enjoy a cigarette like I will enjoy a good beer, a chocolate bar or a spliff. It is the least enjoyable, admittedly, but I still enjoy the taste, the sensation, but not the smell, admittedly.
"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.
If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh
Written by: Stone
OWD, do you have any real proof (iother tahn your personal opinion) that "dabbling with cannabis is a prime factor in future generations becoming addicted to nicotine" ?
"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:
There are no benefits to using nicotine, alcohol or weed, that cannot be experienced without using them.
Most percieved benefits from drug use are simply that, during regular use, not consuming them leads to anxiety/distress, which is temporarily removed when they are consumed.
A similar effect can be obtained by wearing shoes a couple of sizes too small, so, at the end of the day you can experience the 'bliss' of taking them off.
It does indeed feel wonderful, but those who are wiser, know that that feeling can be better obtained by simply not wearing tight shoes in the first place
Written by: Colin J
I agree its a pointless activity. But it passes the time. In a pleasurable way too...
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.
Written by:
Dude, you can't really compare smoking weed to cheating on your wife, because it's an ethical decision that affects at least 3 people (you, your wife, and the person you're screwing). Smoking weed or watching soaps only affects you. I personally can only think of one benefit of watching soaps, which is to give bored people with no lives something to talk about that is more interesting than their own existance. That's about it in my book.
Written by:
So can you not think of many other pleasurable ways to pass the time that:
1. Aren't illegal
2. Aren't bloody expensive
3. Aren't damaging to your health
4. Aren't pointless
Written by: Colin J
I didn't. I was taking the piss out of why would something need 3 benefits. Simply liking it is enough.
Written by: Colin J
I don't care even if it:
a:gets you into trouble
b:spend all your money that YOU earnt/'aquired'
c:kills you instantly
d:Makes an entire world of clones that all eat carrots, love trees, recycle, and all live in peace&love till the end of time.
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.
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
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.
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:
What I don't accept is that the NHS (and my taxes) is putting millions of pounds a year into the problems involved with binge drinking, fag smoking and dope taking. I don't care what you do to yourself, but when you start drawing on the resources of everyone else to help you with sith that you got yourself into, then you can sod off.
You cripple someone by drink driving? Pay for their medical care yourself. You ruin your own lungs smoking 50 a day? Go sodding private. You go crazy with the amount of dope you've been doing? Pay for your own sodding care
Written by:
I have also seen a friend of mine, who had a real talent on stage, get progressively more and more de-motivated mainly due to his smoking weed. Now he's working in a pub, with no career aspirations after dropping out of his A-Levels. I repeat, he was genuinely talented, his teachers said it, people on his course said it. Now his "Dream" is to get stoned after work.
If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh
Written by: Stone
Good reply Dave, but it's really only conjecture. Have there been any studies that show using cannabis leads to nicotine addiction? Especially as most people seem to go for pure spiffs or bongs now days anyhow.
Written by: onewheeldaveWritten by: Stone
OWD, do you have any real proof (iother tahn your personal opinion) that "dabbling with cannabis is a prime factor in future generations becoming addicted to nicotine" ?
Nicotine is, for most people, a highly addictive substance; a significant portion of those who 'sample' it, will end up as addicts.
Compared to previous generations, we are in a better position where cigarettes are concerned, because, unlike in generations gone by-
1. the health dangers of cigarettes are very widely known, and well publicised
2. many forms of tobacco promotion are now banned (eg, in the UK, TV adverts)
3. smoking is being gradually banned from public places- one effect of this is that, to new generations smoking is seen less and less as normal/acceptable, and more as a drug addiction
4. smoking is, in general, not seen as 'cool' anymore
My parents 'choice' to dabble with cigarettes was almost certainly influenced by the fact that it was an everyday and normal part of the culture they grew up in, almost everyone smoked, smoking was presented as fashionable and desirable by the media of their day, the health damaging aspects of smoking were not as well known or publisised etc, etc.
That's a lot of peer/cultural influence, and its no wonder that so many took up smoking.
Fortunately, things are much improved now, and children have a better chance of seeing smoking for what it is: ie not as 'cool', but as a drug addiction which brings no benefits, and which kills more people in the west than any other avoidable cause.
Of course, some will still end up taking it up, but, equally, many won't.
However, out of that group that has more sense than to dabble with cigarettes, some will end up smoking tobacco laden spliffs (as weed is promoted, unlike cigarettes, as non-addictive, harmless, and 'cool').
Of them, some will acquire a nicotine addiction, and could well end up as long-term nicotine users.
That's my reasoning, backed up by the fact that I know people who ended up as nicotine addicts via smoking spliffs. There are also posts on other HOP drug threads where people state that smoking spliffs got them addicted to tobacco.
"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!
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May my balls of fire set your balls on fire
Written by: Colin J
Even if you were somehow paying for cancerous weedheads. Yeah I can feel for that, I'd much rather my taxes go to something rather than helping the sick. Screw that helping sick people.
Written by: Colin J
Many can describe similar examples.
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.
Written by: Sethis
So can you not think of many other pleasurable ways to pass the time that:
1. Aren't illegal
2. Aren't bloody expensive
3. Aren't damaging to your health
4. Aren't pointless
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
Written by:
No, I prefer my taxes go towards helping sick people that didn't choose to bollox their own bodies for the sake of "Having fun".
Baby with birth defects? Have some cash.
Woman with one disease or another? Have some cash.
75 yr old guy with 'flu? Have some cash.
A smoker with lung cancer? Sod off.
Alcoholic with liver problems? Sod off.
If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh