CO-04 (Special Election)
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(R) Greg Lopez
(R) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Joe Biden*
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%↓
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
90%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
90%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
(R) Ron Hanks
40%
30%
20%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(R) Deborah Flora
(R) J. Sonnenberg
30%↑
15%↑
10%↓
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Dave Williams
(R) Jeff Crank
50%↓
50%↑
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
90%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) Brittany Pettersen
85%↑
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
(R) Janak Joshi
60%↑
35%↓
30%↑
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
April 07, 2012 01:01 AM UTC
26 Comments
The campaign in support of
There is a really junky liquor store near my home that I would n’t mind being replaced with a place that sells marijuana. All the medical marijuana locations that I have seen are more pleasant than this place that sells alcohol.
If you want to see a scary “medical” marijuana store go to Federal Boulevard. For example Sense of Healing at 1005 Federal Blvd is about as nasty looking as any liquor store on Federal.
I am not saying this proves anything about marijuana, just pointing out that it is not all sweetness and happy hippies.
One of my favorites: Karmaseutical.
It’s almost like naming your garage band.
But love the message.
Well done.
For me, the point is not that marijuana stores would be “better” than a trashy liquor store. Just that if you reject marijuana but accept alcohol and all its dangers, you’re a bit of a hypocrite.
I choose to abstain from both, personally, and see no reason that American adults should not have the choice of using both, neither, or either, legally, safely, and in a way that generates tax revenue.
I abstain from both also. I think the campaign is somewhat misquided by asserting marijuana is “less” dangerous than alcohol (which is certainly true). It makes it seem like it’s the lesser of two evils, instead of a choice and personal responsibility.
I quit drinking alcohol because, unlike the majority of people who choose to drink, I could not do so responsibly anymore. For me, doing the responsible thing is accepting the fact I shouldn’t drink alcohol.
As Dirty Harry said “A man’s gotta know his limitations”
I sit next to one at work, another sits across the office, one of my best friends abstains, and I know of one other Polster who doesn’t drink, besides you and I. Pop culture likes to tell us that “everyone” has a beer after work or wine on special occasions. I tried it, didn’t like how it tasted, how it made me feel, or how I behaved while drinking, so I stopped. I know several 20-somethings who don’t like to drink but will order something that looks like a mixed drink and sip it to avoid being pestered by drinkers during social events held at bars. (Guilty–I love my Shirley Temples!)
Alcohol is a pretty damn powerful drug, and its prevalence in society does nothing to change that fact. Using a powerful and addictive drug is not the right choice for everyone.
But it does make you a criminal.
Apparantly not, since he only got a slap on the wrist for dealing an incredibly addictive and destructive drug.
But if you’re not former law enforcement and you deal a few oz’s of marijuana, you can be looking at a few years in the big house.
by the light sentencing of Pat Sullivan. Thirty days? Wow. Can you imagine a person of color no one knew getting treated like that for solicitation and meth?
As for the pot, I am not a user, but I don’t judge other adults for using it. Both alcohol and marijuana have it’s dangers, and both can be abused. Neither are harmless (I’ve seen a few potheads lose all ambition, which is not a danger to others, but a danger to themselves.) Neither should be available to people under 21, IMHO. Alcohol causes all kinds of social and physical problems. If alcohol is legal and regulated, I see no reason pot should not be as well.
he’s only doing 20 days. Probably less than that.
Which is something that Pat Sullivan would have objected to, back in the day, more than likely. He’s the beneficiary of policy that, at one time, he was probably outspokenly against.
Aside from the URL address listed, the billboard isn’t really asking anyone to take any action other than to think things over — and you’re gambling that people will actually decide what you hope they’ll decide. I would have preferred the addition of “Vote Yes on Amendment 64.”
And I’d avoid the use of ellipses on a billboard. Preferably, the next billboard shouldn’t look like a post by Canines on ColoradoPols.
This country needs toquit putting potsmokers in prison.It would save lives,too.
Marijuana can be detected in one’s bloodstream for up to thirty days. If your employer utilizes random drug tests, you are screwed. Even in states that have permitted medical marijuana, an employer still has the right to dismiss you for drug use because using marijuana is still considered a crime.
I truly do think businesses would think twice before setting up shop, or relocating, to a state where recreational marijuana use is okay. If nothing else, if this did come to pass in Colorado, I’m sure you would see a dramatic increase in employers using random drug tests.
What I find disturbing about the billboard’s message is that it compares one potentially destructive addiction to another. I just don’t think we need any more at all. Frankly, this is how cigarettes got started. Initially, they had doctors spouting their “heath benefits.”
Ain’t it always like a mainstream, non-libertarian-leaning Republican, though, to be more concerned about corporations than personal freedoms…
Hell, employers in Colorado can fire you if you wear a yellow shirt and they don’t like it.
Cannabis does have health benefits. The US government holds a patent saying just that:
http://www.patentstorm.us/pate…
Like many others, I’d prefer that people have a demonstratively safer alternative to alcohol, if they so choose.
It certainly wasn’t my intent to be concerned about corporations. I thought my point was pretty clear that people better be concerned about their jobs.
Employers cannot fire you if you wear a yellow shirt and they don’t like it. But they can do it, if you are violating federal drug laws. This simply is not a negotiable point.
When Colorado voters approved medical marijuana, I don’t think many of them expected the proliferation of the medical marijuana stores. I believe this is why so many municipalities and counties have opted not to have them within their boundaries. I imagine the expectation was that the drug would be distributed through established pharmacies. (When Viagra came on the market, we didn’t have a bunch of Viagra stores spring up… although that would be an intriguing innovation.)
Are there unique medical benefits to cannabis? I’m not a medical professional, so I’m not going to weigh in on that point. Personally though, I have always wondered… if THC is the active ingredient that is medically beneficial, why can it not be delivered in pill form?
The issue before us, though, is making a small amount of marijuana legal for recreational use. This has nothing to do with medical applications. Do you really think prospective employers would want to set up shop in Colorado, if we are the only state to have such a law on its books? As it is now, businesses can legally discriminate against job seekers who smoke cigarettes.
This isn’t about corporations; it’s about people keeping their jobs. A state law allowing a little pot for pleasure will not give anyone legal status to defy a federal law. It is disingenuous to imply that this measure will.
THC is not the medically active ingredient in Marijuana. It is the primary psychoactive ingredient in Cannabis, and while it may have some theraputic benefit, it is the other Cannabinoids that are the most beneficial in terms of pain management and other medical issues:
You ask…
Why should it? What purpose would that serve? Would it FEEL more legitimate to you? Maybe if it had a name like “Flomax” or “Abilify” instead of “Purple Kush” or ‘White Widow” it would make it more acceptable in your mind.
The fact is that the alkaloids in Cannabis have to be heated to be effective. So smoking it and cooking it in edibles are the two most prevalent ways to ingest the drug.
Yes, many.
I do — sincerely — thank you for the the detailed chemical analysis. I taught middle school social studies and will readily admit that chemistry is not my strong suit. I really didn’t know about TCH and was incorrect thinking it was the ingredient that had the medical benefits.
I have heard enough truly medically sick people about how marijuana has benefited them, so I will concede that there are very likely some medical benefits to it. I also believe a significant number of “patients” who have gotten “prescriptions” for medical marijuana are using it for recreational purposes.
I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t address the distribution of the substance via medical marijuana outlets vs established pharmacies. That point, plus the illegality of the drug at the federal level, is why voters will handily voted this ballot measure down in November.
willing to accept your “concession” that there are “very likely” medical benefits to the application of Cannabis to a specific ailment. There are…period. Your concession is patronizing.
You are correct. I will only mention the names “Rush Limbaugh” and “Oxycontin” to make my point. you are trying to make a distinction where there is no difference…try again.
I did not see a question mark in your paragraph about dispensaries.
you are wanting to accept anything I say on this issue is irrelevant. Colorado voters are not going to legalize the possession of any amount of marijuana for recreational use. Many feel betrayed at how things turned out when medical marijuana was passed. Very few people were expecting a plethora of medical marijuana outlets springing up in their midst… which is precisely why many communities are choosing to push them out of their municipalities and counties. Let’s face it… the only real reason supporters of this initiative have is that it will make them feel good. It certainly isn’t going to make smoking pot legal!
irrelevent than the things you have said in your posts. It is very clear that your comments are based in profound ignorance of the subject.
No, the way you framed it, it sounds to me like you’re more concerned about corporations rather than citizens. Still does. (See below.)
Yes, employers can indeed fire you for wearing a yellow shirt — or a blue shirt. (You may potentially be able to collect unemployment, though.) Or for smoking cigarettes, as you state. Colorado is at “At Will” work state, and employees don’t have all that many rights.
So yes, employers can fire you for violating federal drug laws. Some may be required to fire you; some may not. Some employers might fire employees for smoking marijuana simply because they feel like it; some might not. That is the present situation, in fact, with medical marijuana.
OK, let’s be clear — and stay on topic: the present marijuana initiative would allow municipalities to allow marijuana stores to open. They wouldn’t have to allow it; but they could.
It still sounds to me like you’re more concerned about what corporations might or might not do than you are about individual rights or liberties. Businesses can dictate whatever they want to about employees’ use of marijuana in their employment manuals.
Nobody suggested that the initiative would allow anyone to violate federal law by smoking marijuana, so I don’t know who’s being disingenuous. It changes state law, pure and simple. If the feds want to come in and bust someone for simply smoking marijuana, they can conceivably do that at any time, now or in the future. Colorado decriminalized marijuana use in the ’70s, thereby reducing some penalties for possession of marijuana; federal law is harsher, and the feds can come in at any time and enforce their laws. But they don’t. It’s a matter of priorities and resources — and politics.
I not exactly sure where you think jobs come from, Canines. It’s got to be from the private sector, the government, or being self-employed. I simply cannot imagine any entity, from the first two categories, would condone — in their employee handbook — that possession, or use, of any amount of marijuana is okay.
Whether, or not, you agree about the Feds still considering it to be illegal, I can assure you the overwhelming majority of employers care a lot. Do you honestly think any non-marijuana related industry would consider the proposed initiative to be an incentive to move to Colorado?
Even voters in California defeated such a ballot measure in 2010. Colorado isn’t about to pass it in 2012. This ill-conceived concept has no chance… and it shouldn’t.
that’s what this billboard says to me. She can look like the girl next door all she wants, but I don’t find it all that compelling.
As an aside, to the extent the Supreme Court justices modify commerce clause law to invalidate the individual mandate of the health care law, that could have a significant impact on the reach of the federal drug laws. One reason that locally grown and locally distributed drugs fall within the jurisdiction of the federal drug laws is because of an expansive reading of the commerce clause. A decision to narrow the power of the federal government to regulate commerce in the health care context may lead to a narrowing of the power of the federal government to regulate controlled substances. If that happens, I’ll start thinking about whether I’d be in favor of legalization at the state level (and whether there is any way to limit it to real medical use). Until then, it’s illegal under federal law in all circumstances.
she might put down the joint and consider Jesus.