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Pot advocate Mason Tvert filed language on Wednesday for a November
ballot initiative that would allow Coloradans 21 and older to use
marijuana. Does that mean Colorado is about to be embroiled in a
full-scale movement to legalize weed?
Not necessarily.
"There isn't some large campaign being
launched," says Tvert, reached during a business trip in San Francisco.
"It's just something we wanted to make sure was possible if we decided
to do it." He explains the he and his colleagues at SAFER, the marijuana
reform organization Tvert runs, wanted to file the appropriate
paperwork for such a contingency before key election deadlines had
passed. But they're far from launching an official political operation.
After all, Tvert, who's never one to turn down a press opportunity,
wasn't really looking to get the word out about the filing at all. "If
we knew this was happening, we'd be the first ones to let people know
about it," he says.
If Initiative 47, as its titled on state paperwork, moves forward, it
would ask voters to authorize a comprehensive regulatory system that
would control marijuana similarly to how the state currently manages
alcohol, says Tvert. In this model, both pot shops and pot grows would
have to be licensed, there'd be limitations as to where one could use it
and nothing in the law would supersede current rules about driving
under the influence of drugs.
A lot of considerations will go into whether or not advocates decide
this is the year to fight marijuana prohibition in Colorado, says Tvert.
That includes timing issues, funding potential and what happens with
current state attempts to regulate medical marijuana.
If the time does seem right, rest assured Tvert will have a whole lot
more to say about it.
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