Marijuana: Colorado Ski Town Votes to Legalize It, Measure Passes With 73%

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #607)
Politics & Advocacy

Residents of the Colorado ski town of Breckenridge overwhelmingly voted to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana Tuesday. The measure passed with 73% of the vote.

[inline:breckenridge.jpg align=right caption="Breckenridge, Colorado"]That means as of January 1, people in Breckenridge can legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana under local ordinance. The measure also legalizes the possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

"This votes demonstrates that Breckenridge citizens overwhelmingly believe that adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol," said Sean McAllister, Breckenridge attorney and chair of Sensible Breckenridge, a local project of the statewide marijuana law reform group Sensible Colorado.

"As state and national focus grows on this important issue, the popular ski town of Breckenridge has taken center stage on marijuana reform -- and not just for medical purposes," said Brian Vicente of Sensible Colorado. "With this historic vote, Breckenridge has emerged as a national leader in sensible drug policy."

The campaign, which had no formal opposition, received a chorus of local support including endorsements from Breckenridge Town Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron, former Colorado State Representative and Breckenridge resident, Gary Lindstrom, and the Summit Daily News.

Measure 2F was placed on the ballot when over 1,400 local supporters signed a petition supporting the reform measure.

Under Colorado state law, possession of up to an ounce is decriminalized and punishable by a $100 fine. But Breckenridge police will "still have the ability to exercise discretion," said Chief Rick Holman. "It's never been something that we've spent a lot of time on, so I don't expect this to be a big change in how we really do business," he told the Summit Daily News.

Breckenridge residents had voted for Amendment 44, a statewide legalization initiative, by the same percentage in 2006. That initiative won only 41% of the vote statewide.

Denver became the first city to vote to legalize marijuana possession under municipal ordinance in 2005.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

maxwood (not verified)

1. One (1) ounce of marijuana, sifted through 1/16" screening, yields enough one-hitter-compliant herb for c.900 25-mg. single tokes! Congratulations, everybody! Now practice some dynamic moderation-- after one or two tokes, walk to the woods and excise four hours' worth of fire-hazardous deadwoodbiofuels. Drag four-foot poles to town and build maxpostbins (each on a pallet). Ulterior motive: POTting soil for your medgarden.

2. Manufacturing the long-stemmed one-hitters (until now slanderously referred to as "paraphernalia" -- paranoia-infernal-alien, get it?) should create lots of hypercreative handworkjobs for your region and something to sell in ski-slope boutiques. Check the wikiHow article on "How to Make Smoke Pipes Out of Everyday Objects".

Fri, 11/06/2009 - 2:16pm Permalink
_-One Love-_ (not verified)

With everything that has been going on in the past few months and all a long in the past and present and hopefully will not have to happen in the future. Anyhow before I get to tied up in words. This is what needs to happen everyplace you or I go. Think about it and seriousley at that. How many people do you know. How many of them actually know whats going on. Who would support our cause, and who would not. Either way, thje word needs to get out. Its free advertisement and its the best way to go about it anyhow. Talk posative and think posative and eventually posative will come our way.

_-One Love-_

Fri, 11/06/2009 - 5:04pm Permalink
A smoker (not verified)

Marijuana should be legal all over the United States! How many people have died from smoking it? ZERO! How many have died from drinking alcohol? Millions! Legalize marijuana! It would be a lot safer!

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 11:42am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

When if finally comes time where I too can vote to legalize Marijuana, I will finally register to vote. I know it's going to take one city at a time, by my city's day will come.

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 2:07pm Permalink
LETS BE REALISTIC!! (not verified)

never heard of potheads killing people when driving because they had too much , its natural and really isnt that bad. we all the the truth, so when is illinois next????? cmon chicago, legalize 420!!!!

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 4:19pm Permalink
theosofie (not verified)

To depressed people ,take a pinch good marijuana and put it on your tongue and suck it for 10-15min then swallow , wait 25-30min and you will be fine !!! No side affects = no poison that is bad for you , forget the killer PILLS !!! Keep on Rocking !

Mon, 11/09/2009 - 8:07am Permalink

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