Pubdate: Tue, 25 Sep 2012 Source: Telluride Daily Planet (CO) Copyright: 2012 Telluride Daily Planet Contact: http://www.telluridenews.com/forms/letters/ Website: http://www.telluridenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3881 Author: Heather Sackett COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SUPPORT AMENDMENT 64 Measure would legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol The San Miguel Board of County Commissioners last week became the first county in Colorado to pass a resolution supporting Amendment 64, which aims to regulate marijuana like alcohol. The amendment, which will be put to Colorado voters on Nov. 6, would make the personal use, possession and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults 21 years of age and older, establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed like alcohol and allow for the cultivation, processing and sale of industrial hemp. San Miguel County Commissioner Art Goodtimes brought the resolution before the board, which passed unanimously at the Sept. 19 meeting. "I've been in the game a while, and I just believe it's the right thing to do, and I believe the majority of citizens in this county agree with me," Goodtimes said. "I just think it's a little hard to be one of the first to do anything." Mason Tvert, co-director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said he provided information about the initiative to the BOCC and asked for their support. "We are very proud to have this endorsement," Tvert said. "For more than 80 years government officials around the nation have been working to maintain marijuana prohibition and it's refreshing to see someone support ending the failed policy. Everyone knows there are countless elected officials out there who support ending marijuana prohibition but they feel they are not able to speak about it publically." In 2006, an initiative to legalize marijuana was defeated by Colorado voters, but Tvert says the measure is much more comprehensive this time around. Regulating marijuana like alcohol, he says, would take the drug out of the underground and generate significant tax revenue and criminal justice savings. Colorado legalized marijuana for medical purposes through a 2000 ballot measure. According to a recent Denver Post poll, Amendment 64 has the support of 51 percent of likely voters polled, compared with 40 percent opposed. There are proposals similar to Amendment 64 to legalize marijuana this fall in Washington and Oregon. The Colorado Education Association and the Colorado Municipal League have both come out against Amendment 64 and Laura Chapin, communications director for SmartColorado/No on 64 says that the amendment is wrong for Colorado. "Amendment 64 amends the Colorado Constitution and puts our state in direct violation of federal law," Chapin said. "This means Colorado could spend years tied up in court fighting the federal government - a fight they would probably ultimately lose, just as Arizona did with its immigration laws." In addition to conflicting with federal laws, No on 64 says the amendment would harm children, promote increased drug use and increase impaired driving. But Goodtimes says passing Amendment 64 just represents a social change that has been a long time coming. Both Goodtimes and Tvert pointed out that Colorado voters were ahead of the curve by repealing the prohibition of alcohol before the federal government. "It's just a social change that we have been very resistant to," Goodtimes said. "But I'm a child of the '60s. I think it's time for change." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt