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Written by Summit Daily News Editorial Board
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Thursday, 22 October 2009 |
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As medical marijuana “dispensaries”
proliferate in the state and county, Breckenridge residents this
Election Day will decide whether possessing less than an ounce of the
intoxicating weed should be decriminalized. There are plenty of good
reasons for doing so, not the least of which is that Breckenridge
voters resoundingly approved a similar, statewide measure (Amendment
44) in 2006 (although that one failed statewide). Proponents point to
the non-harmful nature of marijuana consumption compared to its more
common and socially accepted cousin, alcohol. While police blotters and
courts are filled with an extraordinary amount of problems directly
related to alcohol abuse, it's rare to ever find pot at the bottom of
things like domestic abuse, bar fights, car crashes and the like.
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Written by J. Adrian Stanley
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Thursday, 22 October 2009 |
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Members of a University of Colorado at Colorado
Springs group known as Students for Sensible Drug Policy, along with
the Denver-based group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation
(SAFER), held a news conference Tuesday to protest their exclusion from
a school health fair. They wanted to present information showing
marijuana is safer than alcohol — because it lacks alcohol's
association with overdose deaths, violent crime and heavy addiction
— but they were turned down. The students claim it's
irresponsible for schools like UCCS to promote "responsible drinking,"
even to underage students, while ignoring a healthier alternative.
"This event was just one in a string of events ...
across the country," says Mason Tvert, SAFER executive director.
A new Gallup Poll says 44 percent of Americans
— a record high (no pun intended) — want to legalize pot.
Also, the Obama administration recently announced it would not seek to
arrest users and suppliers of medical marijuana as long as they comply
with state laws.
In response, Colorado Attorney General John
Suthers says he thinks Colorado lawmakers ought to regulate pot
dispensaries, prompting outrage from marijuana patients and supporters.
Tvert says Suthers should focus on more pressing problems, such as
deaths from recreational prescription drug abuse. |
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Written by Debbie Kelly
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Wednesday, 21 October 2009 |
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Booze or pot?
For a group of about 50 students at Tuesday’s “healthy choices fair” at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the choice is clear: Pot is the lesser of two evils.
The UCCS chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy protested the
annual fair because members claimed school officials refused to make
available their information about “the relative harm” of marijuana
versus alcohol and instead promoted “responsible alcohol use” at the
event.
“I’ve seen how college students like to have fun, and every study
proves cannabis is far better for you than alcohol. We’d like to
educate students on this safer way of partying,” said senior Stephanie
Morphet, president of the student group, which formed this semester.
Joining the protest at the group’s invitation was Mason Tvert of
Denver, co-founder of the nationwide Safer Alternative for Enjoyable
Recreation, and co-author of the newly released book, “Marijuana is
Safer: So why are we driving people to drink?” |
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Written by Abby Lane
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Tuesday, 20 October 2009 |
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A group of UCCS students thinks it's unfair they weren't allowed to be part of a school health fair.
"I heard about the healthy choices fair and it seemed a really good
opportunity to educate the student body about the relative harms of
alcohol versus cannibis," said Stephanie Morphet, of Students for
Sensible Drug Policy.
Morphet says she asked if her group could have a table at the health fair and was told she couldn't
"It's time we stopped driving these students to drink," said Mason
Tvert, head of SAFER, which stands for Safer Alternative for Enjoyable
Recreation. "We allow them to make the safer choice and at the very
least, provide them with the information they need to make the safer
choice."
Tvert says alcohol leads to overdose deaths, sex assaults and fights
while marijuana doesn't and believes schools should be giving students
this information.
UCCS disagrees. "We don't endorse the illegal use of alcohol or the
illegal use of drugs as part of our campus," said Tom Hutton,
university spokesperson.
The protest was peaceful. UCCS and Springs police and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office were on campus for the health fair. |
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Written by Cheryl Reza
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Tuesday, 20 October 2009 |
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A protest about pot at UCCS because
the school refused to let them talk about recreational Marijuana use at
a school health fair. Students for Sensible Drug Policy say using
marijuana is safer than drinking alcohol. Mason Tvert, Executive
Director of the group says, "there is substantial evidence that
drinking and driving is far more of a problem in our society than using
marijuana and driving." The Director of the UCCS Health Center,
Stephanie Hanenberg, says they're only promoting healthy choices at the
fair and not promoting the use of any substance. Hanenberg says, "our
goal is to try to keep them as safe as possible so they don't make bad
decisions that could end up like the crashed car behind us where
somebody doesn't live through it." Mason Tvert organizer of the
student group says, he feels the school is steering students away from
marijuana and toward drinking. Tvert says, "the college accepts the
fact that students are going to want to party, they're going to want to
get intoxicated, they're going to drink...but for some reason the
school prefers they get intoxicated on alcohol as opposed to a much
safer substance." The school had a crash car on display to show
students the ill effects of alcohol. They also talked about the need
for designated drivers. |
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Written by Caitlin Row
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Tuesday, 20 October 2009 |
Early voting in Summit County started Monday, Nov. 3 is Election DaySensible
Colorado is a state nonprofit working to create a system where drug use
becomes a health issue, not a crime issue. According to its website,
the organization wants to do this through “innovative drug policy
reform” focusing on education, treatment opportunities and reductions
in “incarcerations, crime, drug use by minors, and strains on the
judicial system and police departments.”
Gary Lindstrom — a
long-time Breckenridge resident, law enforcement veteran, and former
state representative and county commissioner — also spoke in support of
reform at the press conference, held on the steps of the old County
Courthouse.
“Based on my experiences in law enforcement and at
the state Legislature, I believe we need to stop criminalizing
responsible adults who choose to relax at night with marijuana,”
Lindstrom said.
According to Lindstrom, too much money and time
goes into policing private marijuana use — “Our priorities are
misplaced,” he said. “We should decide to save billions of dollars and
use it on health care and education.”
Lindstrom also said he
believes marijuana to be “an innocuous drug” — not a a gateway drug
leading to cocaine and heroine use. And he noted that alcohol-related
deaths have occurred in the county, but there have “been no such
problems with marijuana. Let's stop punishing adults for making the
safer choice when recreating.”
Vicente added that minor
marijuana convictions have serious impacts on people's lives, citing
difficulties with finding employment, entering the military or
receiving student financial aid.
The Breckenridge Police Department didn't comment on the marijuana decriminalization ballot question.
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