The people of Denver have spoken. In Wednesday’s vote, just over half of the voters approved an ordinance allowing residents 21 years and older to carry up to an ounce of marijuana without fear of prosecution. The vote was very close, with 54% voting in favor and 46% voting against the law, and residents were sharply divided over the issue.

     “We educated voters about the facts that marijuana is less harmful to the user and society than alcohol,” said Mason Tvert, campaign organizer for SAFER, or Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation. “To prohibit adults from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana is bad public policy.” Tvert’s argument was that legalizing marijuana would reduce consumption of alcohol, which he said leads to higher rates of car accidents, domestic violence, and street crimes. Seattle, Oakland, and a few other college towns already have laws on the books making it a low priority for law enforcement personnel to punish people carrying negligible amounts.

     The group criticized Mayor John Hickenlooper for opposing the proposal, because they said his opinion was biased since he owns a popular local bar. It also pointed out recent violent crimes, such as last weekend’s shooting of four people, and said crimes such as those are a pointed reminder of how legalizing marijuana will steer people away from alcohol abuse. Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., told reporters that he hopes the approval of Denver’s proposal will launch a national trend toward legalizing small amounts of marijuana, since enforcing laws against it causes more problems than the laws solve. Read the rest of this entry »