Legalization efforts get underway at KushCon II

The marijuana legalization movement will reach a tipping point in 2012 and Colorado is poised to help lead the way, according to the former governor of New Mexico and likely presidential candidate.

Gary Johnson, a two-term GOP governor who has reportedly been eyeing a presidential run in 2012, was a featured speaker at KushCon II, the marijuana festival that took place over the weekend at the Colorado Convention Center. Johnson used medical marijuana for three years while recovering from a serious paragliding accident and believes the war on drugs has been a waste of taxpayer money.

“I see this as two years away of being a tipping point where we recognize the war on drugs is a failure on A to Z fronts,” he told the Denver Daily News. “I oppose the war on drugs from A to Z.”

Meanwhile, pro-marijuana group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) used the KushCon II to officially kick off their campaign to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the 2012 Colorado ballot. Many people at the KushCon said Colorado has a good chance to be the first state to legalize marijuana for adults.

“We are starting to build the infrastructure for the largest legalization campaign this state has ever seen,” said Mason Tvert of SAFER. “It is going to be massive, it is going to be effective, it’s going to change the way the state handles marijuana for all adults.”

Read the entire story at: http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=11049

This weekend the Colorado Convention Center is hosting KushCon, the largest convention in history dedicated entirely to marijuana, its culture, and the rapidly emerging industry surrounding it. Several hundred exhibitors and thousands of people from around the state, country, and world have made the pilgrimage to the Mile High City to celebrate and explore the increasingly popular intoxicating product.

Sound familiar? It should, as it is quite reminiscent of another world-famous event hosted at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. For almost 30 years Denver has welcomed nearly 50,000 thirsty visitors from around the globe to the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the nation's largest celebration of Colorado's other signature intoxicant...

Read the entire column at: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_16878698

Supporters of a ballot measure to legalize marijuana say they will use the nation's largest cannabis gathering at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver this weekend to kick off their campaign.

"People are starting to see that (marijuana) is really not problematic," said Mason Tvert, who runs Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER). "Because marijuana has been so prominently in the news, so much objective debate in the Legislature and elsewhere, people are starting to realize Prohibition doesn't work and that (legalization) would be a much safer and more productive system."

Read the entire story and watch the video at: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=170385&catid=339

A National Institute on Drug Abuse study showing pot use up among all grades surveyed, with eighth grade taking the largest leap, prompted strong words from Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, an opponent of MMJ dispensaries who blames their prevalence for much of the rise in the state. Less alarmed is pot legalization advocate Mason Tvert, who believes "our attorney general has more pressing things to worry about than scaring people about marijuana."

Read the entire story at: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/12/marijuana_john_suthers_mason_tvert.php

...But Mason Tvert, of the pro-marijuana advocacy group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), says failed drug policies are to blame for the continuing increase in youth drug use.  He says there is much less risk surrounding marijuana than alcohol.  Tvert believes more youth smoking pot suggests progress.

“We would all like teens to remain drug free,” said Tvert.  “But if they are going to use an intoxicating substance, they pose far less harm to themselves and to others if they choose to use marijuana instead of alcohol.” 

“Alcohol contributes to overdose deaths, significant long-term health problems, serious injuries, and violent crimes, whereas marijuana has never been found to contribute to such problems,” Tvert added.  “Teens choosing to use marijuana instead of alcohol are in fact making a safer choice.”

Read the entire story at: http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=11021

...But marijuana advocates took a different tack.

Mason Tvert, the executive director of the pro-marijuana group SAFER, noted that teen alcohol use dropped. General alcohol use still remained more prevalent than marijuana use.

"We would all like teens to remain drug-free," Tvert said. "But if they are going to use an intoxicating substance, they pose far less harm to themselves and to others if they choose to use marijuana instead of alcohol."...

Read the entire story at: http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_16860842