A campaign to legalize small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use in Colorado is aimed at middle-aged, budget-conscious voters — not the pot smokers typically associated with such efforts.

Two marijuana legalization advocates started a signature drive Thursday to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that they say would regulate and tax recreational marijuana to raise money for schools without making make weed available to all.

The representatives of the "Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol" wore suits and stood on a public lawn before the state Capitol and made their case that marijuana legalization would raise needed tax revenues and save money spent on arresting and prosecuting small-time pot users.

Read the entire story: http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20110707/NEWS/110709866/1077&ParentProfile=1058

It's day one for pot legalization backers gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment seeking to authorize pot for recreational use in Colorado.

Supporters need about 86,000 signatures to get the question on ballots next year. They start collecting signatures Thursday afternoon in Denver.

If approved, the amendment would make pot legal in small quantities for adults over 21 starting in 2013. Sixteen states allow medical marijuana, but Colorado's proposal would set up a federal showdown over recreational pot rules. Backers of the amendment say the time is right to seek full legalization.

Read the entire story: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28471773/detail.html

Pot activists are aiming for full legalization of marijuana in Colorado and the fight begins today in Denver.

Supporters of legal recreational-use pot in the state need approximately 86,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot for next year, The Denver Post reports. If the amendment were to get approval by voters, pot would be legal in Colorado, in small quantities, for adults aged 21 and over starting as early as 2013.

Currently, sixteen states allow medical marijuana, according to 7News, but full legalization for recreational use would set up a federal showdown over the often contentious disparity between state and federal pot laws.

The efforts of these Colorado pot advocates is part of the Campaign To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, a collective of marijuana activist groups and individuals including SAFER, Sensible Colorado, NORML and others.

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 makes the personal use, possession and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults aged 21 and older. It establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol is currently. The act also would allow for the cultivation, procesing, and sale of industrial hemp.

Read the entire Regulate Marijuana Like Alchool Act of 2012 here.

Marijuana activist groups in Colorado, including SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation), Sensible Colorado, and NORML, have begun collecting signatures to place the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiative on the 2012 ballot.

In order to make the 2012 ballot, backers of the measure need to gather roughly 86,000 signatures.

In a little more than a year, Colorado may become the first state to legalize marijuana. Between now and then, prepare to meet petition waving enthusiasts. In fact, prepare to meet competing petition wavers as it is quite likely that at least two different pro-marijuana groups will propose at least two different legalization schemes.

First out of the box is the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol, sponsored and/or supported by groups such as SAFER Colorado, Sensible Colorado, the Marijuana Policy Project and the Drug Policy Alliance.

This initiative would amend the Colorado Constitution to allow people 21 and older to buy and possess up to one ounce of marijuana. They would also be able to grow up to six plants and to possess all of the marijuana produced by those plants.

Mason Tvert, the leader of the group, says that the black market currently makes marijuana more easily accessible to children and teenagers than alcohol is. “Parents should support this,” he said. “This will shift it from a prohibition paradigm to a regulation paradigm.”

Read the entire story: http://coloradoindependent.com/93279/marijuana-legalization-effort-launched-in-colorado-today

Marijuana activists in Colorado who want to legalize pot for recreational use plan to start gathering signatures Thursday to put the question on ballots next year.

Backers of a suggested constitutional amendment to make pot legal for adults in small quantities say they'll start gathering signatures Thursday afternoon in Denver. The backers got final clearance Wednesday from a state board that certifies language before it can be placed on ballots.