Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jun 2005
Source: Aspen Times (CO)
Copyright: 2005 Aspen Times
Contact:  http://www.aspentimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3784
Author: Janet Urquhart
Cited: Sensible Colorado ( www.sensiblecolorado.org )
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Cited: The report, "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition" 
http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives)

COLORADO POT PUSH BYPASSES ASPEN FOR TELLURIDE

A state group advocating the legalization of marijuana is launching a
citizen initiative in Telluride that might well have taken place in
Aspen.

The group, Sensible Colorado, eyed several mountain towns in which to
spearhead a two-pronged ballot initiative that it hopes eases Colorado
toward a new approach to pot use and regulation, according to
Executive Director Brian Vicente, who's working with Telluride
residents to get a pair of initiative petitions on the streets.

"We looked a little bit at Crested Butte, a little bit at Aspen," he
said.

Aspen, though, looks to have a relatively lackluster ballot in
November, and Sensible Colorado is looking to capitalize on a strong
turnout. Telluride has a hotly contested Town Council race shaping up,
while Pitkin County's fall ballot boasts a school board race so far.

"The more people who turn out, the more votes we get in favor of drug
policy reform," Vicente said.

The Telluride initiatives are aimed at getting the Town Council to
either adopt two measures this summer or put them before voters in the
fall. One would direct town police to make the arrest and prosecution
of marijuana possession cases involving adults its lowest priority.
The message, Vicente said, is that citizens would prefer the police
focus on violent crime and property crime.

The other measure would put Telluride on record as supporting the
creation of a system to license, tax and regulate marijuana like
alcohol whenever possible under state law.

Sensible Colorado's ultimate goal, according to Vicente, is the
statewide regulation and taxation of marijuana in Colorado by 2008.

While Vicente is leading the charge in Telluride, there's plenty of
local support within the community for the initiatives, he said.

Sensible Colorado also picked Telluride, in part, because San Miguel
County, of which Telluride is the county seat, has the fourth-highest
rate of marijuana prosecution in the state, according to 2002
statistics from NORML, a marijuana-law reform group. Pitkin County had
the 47th highest rate among 64 counties, according to Norml.com.

In addition, Vicente's group may find a sympathetic ally in San Miguel
Sheriff Bill Masters, who has written the book "Drug War Addiction:
Notes from the Front Lines of America's No. 1 Policy Disaster."

Coincidental to Sensible Colorado's campaign in Telluride, Forbes.com
reported this week that economist Milton Friedman leads a list of more
than 500 U.S. economists who are endorsing a report that details the
costs of marijuana prohibition and potential revenues to be gained by
taxing its sale.

The report, "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition,"
estimates that replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of
taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages
would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion
and $14 billion per year nationally and $81.6 million in Colorado,
according to Sensible Colorado.

The report was written by Jeffrey Miron, a visiting professor of
economics at Harvard University, and largely paid for by the Marijuana
Policy Project, a Washington, D.C., group pushing the liberalization
of marijuana laws. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake