Posted on 08/10/2005 12:59:24 PM PDT by Know your rights
While a marijuana ordinance has received more than enough support to place it on the November ballot, it was the initiative's opponents who were most vocal at the Telluride Town Council meeting Tuesday.
Speaking passionately about their opposition to marijuana use, about a half-dozen opponents spoke out about the negative implications of an ordinance that would relax the enforcement of marijuana laws and support a statewide system of legalization, distribution and taxation.
A number of supporters also spoke during a half-hour debate that ended without consensus.
The town council had two options: it could either endorse the ordinance and therefore put it on the books, or place the ordinance on the November ballot.
The council showed no inclination toward passing the measure themselves. Instead, they chose unanimously to let voters decide.
"Whatever council votes today, it's neither an endorsement or a denial of the initiative," said council member Andrea Benda.
"There's been a lot of back and forth on this, and that's what an election is all about" said council member Stu Fraser. "By Nov. 1, everybody will have heard every aspect of this ... And then the folks in the community will vote on it."
The debate was not broadcast on KOTO, since a power outage forced the meeting out of Rebekah Hall and into the firehouse next door. But the 30 or 40 people who attended the meeting heard several sides of the arguments for and against the proposed ordinance, America's Drug War, medical marijuana and marijuana use in general.
Opponents cited a variety of concerns.
Richard Kearney, a former member of the Positive Alternatives Team, which works to provide area youth with alternatives to drug and alcohol use, wondered whether the ordinance might lead to increased violence, because, he said, a large portion of "violent crime is substance related."
Marrene Reagan, a family therapist, said that while she supports medical marijuana to ease pain, de-criminalizing marijuana would be bad for families.
"Children are confused because many of the people that they look up to and respect are very comfortable using marijuana," Reagan said. "They question this use of a substance to fill these emotional holes we have in us. There are ways to fill these emotional holes that allow us to grow and are positive, and I don't think using substances is an answer. I just think this is a highly unusual step that I don't think addresses many of the issues and I don't think it's necessary."
The ordinance would not, in fact, legalize marijuana. It would merely make it the Town Marshals' "lowest law enforcement priority."
Some saw that as a problem in itself.
"I think it's inappropriate to create a priority" for the marshals, said Mike Dorsey, a former lawyer for the federal government. "Law enforcement is a flexible matter. The marshals work with the town attorneys to make their own priorities.
"You guys are trying to send a message to the state, if not the nation, that marijuana should be legalized," Dorsey said. "I think that's inappropriate for the families of Telluride. If we pass this ordinance we're saying that Telluride supports the decriminalization of marijuana."
But Peggy Rose, a registered medical marijuana patient from Grand Junction, said she would like to have a "sanctuary" where she can use her medicine without worrying about prosecution. She said she suffers from chronic nausea and cannot eat if she does not smoke the herb.
Ron Gilmer, a member of the Colorado Advisory Counsel on AIDS, said he supported the medical marijuana initiative as a way of relieving the pain of terminally ill patients. He said he especially supported the second part of the ordinance, which supports a method of marijuana distribution that would give patients easier access to the drug.
Or become a Negro jazz musician and seduce white women.
When in doubt, cite the Commerce Clause.
Hide your white women, there are stoned jazz musicians on the loose!
That tactic worked for FDR ... why shouldn't big-government "conservatives" embrace it?
Down boy. I am for legalization of marijuana (against the illegalization)...I just don't prefer to take myself too seriously like some people.
We should always let our government decide such questions for us because they are always very very smart and want only what is best for us.
Really, they do, Honest. I'm not making this up. Really
Remember when believing this disqualified one as a "conservative"?
Ah, the good old days...
If they decriminalized every single drug out there, my favorite would still be single malt scotch. That, and there would be plenty of room in our jails for murders, rapists, child molestors, and politicians.
Hey, that sounds pretty good to me. Those guys are, like, cool, daddy-o. And you know the ladies like them. :)
That's the problem ... you perverted dope fiend.
I believe it still does but I do think I've become a minority view in this belief.
"Drunks don't often show much initiative either; what's your point?"
Pot smokers show a lot more initiative then drunks. And as an added bonus, they are much, much, much less violent. I heard that from a cop or two.
Carl Sagan and Tommy Chong....yup, peas from a pod! LOL.
Yum. I'm suddenly quite thirsty.
I've got a copy of that on DVD. Pure agitprop and funny as all get out.
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