April 16, 2012 08:33 PM UTC

Colorado Democratic Party supports Amendment 64

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• by: ColoRabble

(Color me pleasantly surprised. (It’s a kind of periwinkle, with shades of orchid.) – promoted by ProgressiveCowgirl)

POLS UPDATE: As clarified by Westword’s Michael Roberts, this has become a bit of a semantic quibble between supporters of Amendment 64 and the Colorado Democrats:

Just received a call from Matt Inzeo, communications director for the Colorado Democratic Party, and he says the claim that the CDP has endorsed Amendment 64 is technically inaccurate despite the actions in Pueblo this weekend.

According to Inzeo, a formal endorsement can only come from the state central committee, not the state convention and assembly. As such, the votes that took place over the weekend “indicate support, but not an endorsement,” he says.

In other words, this is a matter of semantics. With that in mind, variations on the word “endorse” that appeared in this item’s headline and text have been changed to “support.”

We’ve edited this user diary’s title to reflect this clarification, and it’s probably worth restating that the word “endorsement” has a precise and formal meaning.

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(Disclosure: I am a proponent of Amendment 64.)

The Colorado Democratic Party adopted a platform at its state convention and assembly on Saturday that includes an endorsement of Amendment 64, the initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol.

Michael Roberts at Westword reports:

Last month, a majority of attendees at the Denver Republican Assembly backed Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. And enthusiasm is even more widespread among Democrats. Saturday’s Dem state convention and assembly in Pueblo formally endorsed Amendment 64 — an action that proves to proponent Mason Tvert that the measure has growing appeal across party lines.

“While there may be more support among Democrats and independents, this is quickly becoming a popular position,” Tvert says. “Supporting an end to marijuana prohibition and regulating marijuana like alcohol is a position that spans the political and ideological spectrum.”

This view is echoed by Cindy Lowery-Graber, chair of the Denver Democratic Party. In a statement, she argues that “this is a mainstream issue. Polls show that more than 60 percent of Democrats and a solid majority of independents believe marijuana should be treated like alcohol. A broad coalition is forming in support of Amendment 64 and I am proud to say that it now includes the Colorado Democratic Party.”

The endorsement is in part the product of a strong grassroots effort that resulted in hundreds of precincts and more than a dozen counties adopting resolutions in support of the endorsement.

Indeed, fifteen counties, including eight of the ten largest, have adopted resolutions supporting the regulation of marijuana like alcohol. They are: El Paso, Denver, Jefferson, Larimer, Boulder, Douglas, Weld, Pueblo, Garfield, Eagle, La Plata, Delta, Routt, Elbert and Pitkin.