A group of women marked Sexual Assault Awareness Month at the Colorado Capitol with an unusual message for lawmakers — marijuana could help.

About 20 female marijuana advocates wore purple T-shirts Tuesday and passed out fliers in favor of marijuana legalization to lawmakers. They argue that alcohol is more closely tied to rapes and sex assaults than marijuana, but laws and college policies inadvertently encourage alcohol use over pot use.

The advocates included a college senior from Colorado Springs who survived an alcohol-related sexual assault. The female pot activists are also planning a "high tea" for Mother's Day to encourage women to talk to their moms about legalizing pot.

Read the entire article at: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/a14df891fe0241ea86253c7083e3bf26/CO--Marijuana-Sex-Assaults/

...Brian Vicente, the executive director of Sensible Colorado and one of the voices behind the Colorado Legalization 2012 campaign, said the draft-initiative language would create a state-licensed system of pot shops, similar to the regulatory system for liquor stores, and would allow individuals to grow small amounts of marijuana on their own. He said marijuana sales would likely be subject to a special excise tax.

4/20 rally going on today at Civic Center Park

...Meanwhile, some activists are also using the event to push for the legalization of marijuana. Mason Tvert of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, which is plotting a marijuana legalization ballot initiative in 2012, said his group would have volunteers at the rally signing up supporters and letting people know about their legalization effort. Additionally, the keynote address will focus on the marijuana legalization effort.

In support of legalizing marijuana, Tvert stressed the difference between the generally mellow previous 4/20 rallies and the craziness that surrounds many booze-soaked events.

“I think it’s very telling that this is an event that generally has no significant problems associated with it,” he said. “There are fewer problems than a typical Friday night in LoDo.”

Denver Police Department (DPD) Spokesman Sonny Jackson said he couldn’t think of any significant negative incidents off the top of his head that required police involvement at previous 4/20 rallies...

Read the entire article at: http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=12454

This week, Grand Junction and Castle Rock banned retail sales of medical marijuana, joining Loveland and many other Colorado municipalities that have enacted similar prohibitions.

Do these votes suggest that a proposed 2012 ballot measure to legalize pot for adult recreational use is doomed to failure? Hardly, says SAFER's Mason Tvert, who's expected to be at the center of the campaign.

"It doesn't make me fear that at all," Tvert says. He chalks up the failures of Grand Junction and Castle Rock voters to support medical marijuana businesses to the votes taking place in April, when turnout is traditionally lower than for November elections in even-numbered years, with the majority of those taking part skewing older and more conservative.

As such, he believes that "those communities represent a minority of Coloradans when it comes to their opinions about marijuana." Most of the survey he's seen of late show support for marijuana legalization in the 50 percent range, "and the rate is increasing dramatically with each poll, as it has for the past five years. And that's been fueled by people seeing the medical marijuana industry emerge and the lack of problems it presents."

Read the entire article at: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/04/medical_marijuana_bans_pot_legalization_2012_mason_tvert.php

...Drug abuse has been a recurring problem in Kentucky for decades. And college is often where many students do their first real experimenting with illegal drugs.

Eastern is no different.

While alcohol still holds the crown as the drug of choice, marijuana has a firm hold on second place...

Everything is OK in moderation, he said, adding that he believes smoking marijuana is less harmful than drinking alcohol. He also said marijuana is not the "gateway" to harder narcotics that some contend.

"Smoking has never made me want to do other drugs," Mr. X said. "It's just a healthier alternative to drinking. You feel more in control than getting drunk. People automatically think you do these wild things, but that's not true."

Read the entire story at: http://media.www.easternprogress.com/media/storage/paper419/news/2011/02/03/News/Marijuana.Viewed.As.Safer.Alternative.To.Harder.Drugs-3972960.shtml