The Effect of the Marijuana Vote
With 84% of the vote now counted, the front page of the Rocky Mountain News marijuana initiative is leading by a 57 to 43% margin. Even if every remaining vote was a "no" vote, it would pass.So, what does it mean? According to Mayor Hickenlooper and the Denver Police Department, not much.But, the initiative requires the City to appoint a commission to study the issue, and the Mayor has promised to do so.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper issued a statement Wednesday saying that he understands the frustration with current marijuana laws and that he will create a community-based panel to review the issues raised by the initiative."We respect the fact that many voters used this largely symbolic initiative to register frustration with the federal war on drugs," Hickenlooper said in his statement. "Given that adult possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is already one of the police department's lowest priorities, it is unclear what substantive impact, if any, the initiative's passage will make."
The initiative doesn't mean people can't be busted for possession of pot. Driving under the influence of marijuana remains a crime. As is juvenile consumption. What it means is that the police should not be targeting adults for arrest for personal possession or use of the drug. Denver police chief Gerry Whitman says they don't do that anyway. So, what did the measure gain? Perhaps a greater awareness that marijuana smoking is not "reefer madness." The vote may have been just symbolic, but it's a vote that expresses the belief and will of the people of the city and county of Denver: Police shouldn't sweat small stuff. In the grand scheme of criminal activity, adult marijuana possession and use is now officially at the bottom of the totem pole. And that's where it should be.
Comments
Submitted by cooper (not verified) on Fri, 2009-11-20 15:39.
you think pot heads are lazy well recent poles show that people that smoke pot tend to have higher paying jobs than nonsmokers with comparable education.you think it is adictive. i have stoped smoking from months to years just because i dint want to smoke. you say it alters your mind yes it dose while consuming it. not unlike alcohol or tobaco or even chocolate. if you dont belive me look it up. and did you know there once was a time when marjuana was legal and tobaco was not. once again look it up. do some research before you start talking shit.
Submitted by lkjklj (not verified) on Sun, 2007-11-11 10:36.
"what it should be"? Last time I checked, it was still something that alters your mind...I have never seen or heard of a pothead just having one or two tokes once or twice or day....it usually comes down to them being an addict where they have to have it all the time and people like you try to justify an addiction. It is also something someone shouldn't have to be subjected to (inhaling around someone who is smoking it) if they don't want to be. You might want to reply to this, but you might be too lazy or indifferent now from all the weed you smoke.
