Pubdate: Mon, 09 Jun 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Jon Murray
Page: 1A

LEGAL POT'S ROLE HAZY

GOP Is Curious About the Law, but Boosters Aren't Concerned.

There's no escaping Colorado's status as the poster child for legal 
recreational marijuana when visitors come to town, even-or especially 
- - when Denver is trying to sell itself as the perfect site for a 
national political convention.

Take the initial site visit by Republican National Committee staffers 
in April, a precursor to a larger three-day scouting mission that 
starts Monday.

Over lunch, the topic turned to marijuana. The GOP visitors had plenty to ask.

But the questions didn't leave bid boosters worried that legal pot 
might hurt Denver's chances, even if Republicans are least likely to 
support such laws.

"They're more curious about how this is going to play out in other 
places around the country," said Pete Coors, chairman of the Denver 
bid committee. "We're the first state, and we're learning how to do 
it." Still, Colorado's marijuana reputation isn't the kind of 
international exposure Republican officials are hyping as they seek 
the party's convention in 2016. Also in the running are Cleveland and 
Kansas City, Mo., which RNC officials and the Site Selection 
Committee visited last week, and Dallas, where they'll head Wednesday 
after Denver.

Two years from now, it remains to be seen whether marijuana will be 
such a big issue. Would Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert make jokes on 
late-night TV about wayward or lost Republicans wandering into pot 
shops on the 16th Street Mall?

But interest from RNC scouts has been inescapable, even if Denver 
boosters, echoed by a national political analyst, think cannabis 
won't play much of a factor in the RNC's host city decision, to be 
made later this summer or fall.

"You can't run from it, and we haven't," said Angela Lieurance, the 
bid committee's executive director. "You cannot pretend that it's not 
an issue or challenge for us."

Their message: It's the will of the people, and "we have very 
thoughtful, smart people dealing with this." party leaders, she said, 
likely realize that marijuana's hot-button status diminishes every year.

Even so, most states that advocates see as offering the best chances 
at legalization via voter initiative may not put it on the ballot 
until 2016, a prospect that could force the issue to the forefront of 
national politics that year.

That's not a concern for Denver boosters.

And, asked about the effect of Colorado's legal marijuana on bid 
considerations, RNC spokesman Ryan Mahoney said, "This is not 
something the committee is focused on at this time."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom