Pubdate: Sun, 21 Apr 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Section: Point-Counterpoint
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Robert J. Corry Jr.
Note: Robert J. Corry Jr. is a Denver attorney specializing in
marijuana law. He co-owns Club 64, America's first legal marijuana club.

Should Pot Clubs Be Legalized in the City of Denver?

YES: 64 EQUATES POT WITH ALCOHOL, SO CLUBS ARE LEGAL

There is a secret in Denver. Thousands of times every day and night,
people gather together legally on private property to buy and consume
a recreational drug. These places are known as bars, or clubs, or
taverns, or saloons. There are hundreds of them in this city. Denver
and many other governmental entities even license and take revenue
from sale of alcohol in these places.

Similarly, the concept of marijuana clubs is not new. For millennia,
in nearly every culture, human beings have gathered together to
associate with each other and experience the cannabis plant. Both
substances, alcohol and marijuana, can be better when used in a social
setting.

Every person in the United States enjoys the constitutional right of
free association under the First Amendment. And every person aged 21
or older in Colorado enjoys the right to possess and consume marijuana
so long as such consumption is not "open and public," under the
Colorado Constitution, Article XVIII  16 (Amendment 64).

What is "open and public"? An alcohol bar on private property is not
"open and public." Walking down the 16th Street Mall with an open beer
is "open and public."

Recently, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told the City Council's
Amendment 64 Committee, "We will not support the establishment of
private clubs in Denver." The "Royal We" cannot be "we Denver voters,"
since we voted 66 percent in favor of Amendment 64, "The Alcohol
Marijuana Equalization Initiative."

Amendment 64, which I helped draft, was intended to treat marijuana
like alcohol under law. The campaign was a vigorous issue-oriented
debate, with Mayor Hancock loudly advocating a "no" vote. Two-thirds
of Denver soundly rejected our mayor's position. Since Denver
licenses, taxes, and regulates alcohol bars, the clear intent of the
Alcohol Marijuana Equalization Initiative is to license and regulate
marijuana clubs similarly, allowing for purchase and consumption
on-premises.

Instead, the mayor argues that Denver (a global leader in fostering
the alcohol industry) should continue the failed policy of marijuana
prohibition. He hoists "the children" as justification, along with the
non-argument that people may drive from a marijuana club, but such
logic argues against the existence of alcohol bars as well. The vast
majority of responsible adults arrange for transportation if they are
impaired.

Aside from constitutional concerns with banning free association of
law-abiding adults, prohibition is bad public policy, one that would
cost Denver jobs and revenue.

Imagine if Denver banned alcohol bars. Would the group consumption of
alcohol cease? Of course not. It would simply materialize where
government is least able to stop it: private homes, in residential
neighborhoods. If foreclosed from the private alcohol club option,
Denverites who wished to consume this legal substance in a group
setting would do so in homes, untaxed and unregulated. Your teenager
would be more likely to obtain alcohol at a house party than at a
regulated bar obligated to check ID.

The same will happen with marijuana if Denver bans marijuana clubs.
People will still gather. They will still consume. And you may see it,
hear it, or smell it in your neighborhood. And they won't be violating
any laws. There won't be any jobs created, Denver won't get tax or
licensing revenue, and your teenagers will flock to the unregulated
house.

As a parent of four young children, my family would rather have people
going to alcohol bars, or marijuana clubs, away from my residential
neighborhood. Marijuana clubs provide an important and safe outlet for
people who cannot smoke at home. Denver should capture some revenue
from the consumption of marijuana, and welcome the good jobs that result.

The post-Prohibition future is here. It is high time for Denver's
mayor to accept the voters' will, not hide from it.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D