"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." - Justice Louis D. Brandeis (in dissent), New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann 285 U.S. 262 (1932). By approving Amendment 64 on Nov. 6, Colorado voters did what generations of craven elected officials, from city councilors to district attorneys to state legislators to governors to congressmen to every president since 1970, have been afraid to do. They challenged the lunatic might of the national drug-control bureaucracy. [continues 604 words]
Impact in Colorado Springs Could Be Equivalent to $80 Million in Retail Sales, Account for 1,100 Jobs On Nov. 7, Colorado voters will decide whether to legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by any person over 21. Initiative 44, which is modeled after an ordinance that Denver voters approved in 2004, is seen by both supporters and opponents as a first step toward comprehensive legalization and regulation of marijuana. Eliminate the legal, social and moral arguments, and one thing becomes very clear: even without Initiative 44, the marijuana trade in El Paso County is a major contributor to the local economy. [continues 1291 words]
