October 22, 2010 08:14 PM UTC

Colorado Candidates Answer Marijuana Survey

• 0 Comments
• by: ColoRabble

Just as ballots went out last week, Colorado’s largest marijuana advocacy organization released the first-ever marijuana voter guide listing state candidates’ positions on marijuana legalization.

The SAFER Voter Education Fund, the lobbying arm of Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) delivered a single-question survey to every candidate for governor, attorney general, and the state legislature. The question:

Do you agree with the following policy statement excliusively as it appears below:

Marijuana should be regulated in a manner similar to alcohol, and adults twenty-one (21) years of age and older should NOT be subject to criminal penalties for private use and possession of up to one (1) ounce of marijuana.

Click on the links below to download PDFs of the respective candidate surveys:

Governor and Attorney General Survey

State Senate Survey [NOTE: District 13 candidate Ken Storck is mistakenly listed as “Gary” Storck]

State House Survey (Districts 1-32)

State House Survey (Districts 33-65)

Several major candidates (and some incumbents) responded favorably, including  gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo and attorney general candidate Stan Garnett. Unfortunately, a majority of candidates (including most incumbents) failed or refused to respond to the one-question survey despite having more than a month to do so. Every candidate received a hard-copy survey with a stamped return envelope, as well as multiple follow-up e-mails and phone calls.  

Quite frankly, those candidates who failed to respond to the survey ought to be embarrassed.  Either they’re too scared to publicize their viewpoint or they were unable to take the time out of their campaigns to complete a one-question survey on a major political issue facing Coloradans.

Perhaps more upsetting is gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper’s continued opposition to reform. In the five years since his city became the first in the nation to remove all penalties for adult marijuana possession he has yet to explain why it was okay for him to make a fortune selling alcohol, yet it should be a crime for adults to use a far safer substance instead. The Democratic candidate to become the state’s next top law enforcer agrees that marijuana should be regulated and treated similarly to alcohol, so why does the Democratic gubernatorial candidate disagree?