Colorado makes history!
On November 6, 2012, Colorado and Washington state voters made history by approving measures to end marijuana prohibition in their respective states! The Marijuana Policy Project, through an issue committee it helped establish — the Coalition to End Marijuana Prohibition — provided most of the financial support to this initiative campaign. MPP staff — including three campaign staffers on the ground — dedicated enormous amounts of time and energy to the effort.
The initiative amended the Colorado Constitution to make adults’ use, possession, and cultivation of limited amounts of marijuana legal under state law. It also establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol and allows for the cultivation and sale of industrial hemp. Colorado and Washington became the first states in the country — and the first geographic areas in the world — to enact a state-legal system of marijuana cultivation and sales to all adults. Click here to read the full initiative language or here for a detailed summary. On December 10, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an Executive Order formalizing Amendment 64 as part of the state Constitution and officially making the personal use, possession, and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. The governor also signed an Executive Order establishing a Task Force on the Implementation of Amendment 64 consisting of various government officials and other stakeholders, which will provide recommendations to the legislature on how to establish a legal market for businesses to cultivate and sell marijuana to adults.
The effort was coordinated under the umbrella of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. Led on the ground by initiative proponents Brian Vicente of Sensible Colorado and Mason Tvert of SAFER, two long-time MPP grantees, this campaign was the culmination of a six-year effort to build support for marijuana policy reform in the state.
Thank you to each and every one of you who donated to the effort to end Colorado’s marijuana prohibition. This historic accomplishment was the direct result of donations, volunteers, paid staff, and countless individuals who reached out to family and friends in Colorado about the need to reform failed prohibitionist policie
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Unfair DUID bill dies three times in two years
A bill introduced by Sen. Steve King (R – Grand Junction) that would have set a bright-line rule for when a person is guilty of driving under the influence of marijuana based on the amount of THC in the person's system passed the Senate but did not get voted on by the House before the regular session adjourned. Gov. Hickenlooper called a special session, and Sen. King, along with Rep. Mark Waller, introduced a bill identical to the one that died during the regular session. This time, the bill passed the House, but died on the Senate floor because a previous "yes" vote was on vacation.
These bills would have applied even to drivers who could prove they were not impaired. This is the second year in a row that a per se DUID bill has failed in the Colorado Legislature. It is imperative that any future iteration of this bill be killed or include an exemption from the per se standard for medical marijuana patients.
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