October 21, 2009 02:44 AM UTC

Can pot save our ski towns?

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• by: ColoRabble

Imagine you’re a college student or young adult in Anytown, USA (or Anytown, Colorado, for that matter). You’ve saved up for months and are ready to take a vacation to a popular skiing destination. But where to go? Tahoe? Snowbird? Vail? And then you find out: Breckenridge just removed all penalties for adult marijuana possession. Decision made…

It might sound like a ski-bum’s pipe dream, but the small Colorado ski town is considering doing just that, begging the question of whether legal marijuana could be just what Colorado’s slumping ski industry needs to pull itself out of the economic dumps.

As the Summit Daily News reported today:

BRECKENRIDGE – With early voting in Summit County now open, Sensible Breckenridge – the local marijuana reform group – held a press conference Monday to promote ballot measure 2F, or the decriminalization of marijuana in the town.

Breckenridge voters will consider whether to remove criminal penalties from the Breckenridge town code for the private possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults 21 and older. The county’s official election day is Nov. 3.

The measure will very likely get approval from voters, who overwhelmingly supported the 2006 statewide ballot initiative to remove all penalties for marijuana possession at the state level. And most would welcome the change.

After all, it’s no secret that much of the snowboarding and skiing community is no stranger to marijuana. And for the same reason tourists are sure to stop in Amsterdam to experience a no-hassle toke, it seems likely many would flock to Breckenridge to do the same.

Of course opponents of reforming marijuana will kick and scream, warning of all the marijuana-induced zombies walking the streets at night. But according to former Rep. Lindstrom – a retired law enforcer and county coroner – that could be a good thing:

Gary Lindstrom – a long-time Breckenridge resident, law enforcement veteran, and former state representative and county commissioner – also spoke in support of reform at the press conference, held on the steps of the old County Courthouse.

“Based on my experiences in law enforcement and at the state Legislature, I believe we need to stop criminalizing responsible adults who choose to relax at night with marijuana,” Lindstrom said.

According to Lindstrom, too much money and time goes into policing private marijuana use – “Our priorities are misplaced,” he said. “We should decide to save billions of dollars and use it on health care and education.”

Lindstrom also said he believes marijuana to be “an innocuous drug” – not a a gateway drug leading to cocaine and heroine use. And he noted that alcohol-related deaths have occurred in the county, but there have “been no such problems with marijuana. Let’s stop punishing adults for making the safer choice when recreating.”

So, let’s see. Saving money for health care, education, and other public services; re-injecting tourism dollars into our barren local and state coffers; less wasteful spending and more time to deal with real crimes for law enforcement; and fewer drunks starting bar fights and puking in the streets. I don’t know about you, but it sure sounds like a smokin’ deal.

Plus, it sure beats the incentive of a new cheeseburger. Of course making marijuana legal AND selling new cheeseburgers… now that’s a winner.