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Amendment 64, which would legalize and regulate marijuana for adults in the state of Colorado received a significant boast yesterday. The largest labor union in the state, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 7, recently endorsed the ballot initiative.
With roughly 25,000 members in the state the union has the potential to be extremely helpful to the campaign by both swaying undecided union members and helping to get out the vote. Currently, the initiative is polling at just around 50 percent support which means the election is going to be extreme tight. Potentially just a few thousand votes could make the different between it narrowly winning approval or being rejected by the electorate this November.
The reason the UFCW local choice to endorse marijuana legalization is simple. They understand that once marijuana is legalized it will take the profits away for criminal organization and instead the money will create legitimate jobs and tax paying businesses. According to the Kim Cordova, president of the UFCW local 7, “By taking marijuana off the streets and putting it in retail stores, we can stop steering money toward gangs and drug cartels, and start directing it toward legitimate, job-producing Colorado businesses.”
With each new politician, organization and labor union that publicly endorses marijuana legalization the stigma that once surrounded the issue farther erodes. While only a two decade ago marijuana legalization was politically unthinkable it has now being viewed as a serious policy considerations.
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3 Comments
Does CO have electronic voting? If so I predict the big business interests will win and the people will lose.
I sure have my fingers crossed that someday soon we will, as a nation, have drugs legalized. Right now, these two examples are why I want marijuana legalized:
A weekend or two ago, an elderly man was shot to death by a drug raid team. He had no marijuana on him or in his house. Wrong address, as so often is the case.
Some time before that, a vet from our recent unending wars was shot SEVENTY ONE times and killed. He too, didn’t have any dope on him. The paramedics were not allowed to be anywhere close to him — as the DEA and police needed time to clean up the crime scene of their murderous ways.
Tomorrow SCOTUS will rule on medical marijuana. I am pretty sure both Obama’s appointees will be firmly in line with Big Pharma’s game plan.
I don’t know about the other justices though. The Republicans on the bench have been much more willing to hear about states’ rights, and also the fact that the government shouldn’t be fabricating reasons to deprive a free people of their civil rights.
1. A64 does not repeal the majority of jail-able offenses (felonies)and leaves marijuana in the definitions of the state Controlled Substances Act, which makes all cannabis users subject to lose: employment, unemployment benefits, housing, school grants, government aid,child custody, fire arms and occupational licenses (of which DORA says 75% of workers in Colorado have). To suggest that under Amendment 64 all adult use and cultivation of marijuana is no longer criminalized is not only misleading, but will result in increased arrests.
2. Beinor-V-ICAO, People-v-Watkins and the Blue Sky rulings seriously compromise the intentions of the Amendment 64 language before it is even voted on.
3. Provides no relief for the most affected and arrested adults age 18 – 20. (especially those from disadvantages communities).
4. Amendment 64 contains no proper legal deterrent to federal intervention and the surplus of $40 million via a constitutionally infirm excise tax will not stand in court. The soonest authorized retail sales for adults could be 2014, if at all. Forcing adults to rely on the black market in the interim.
5. Amendment 64 is designed to shut down MMJ. (A64 fiscal impact white paper predicts an 79% defection in registered MMJ patients to the recreational market) No MMJ centers can survive such a decline in the MMJ market.
6. Amendment 64 allows towns to ban all marijuana sales, which bolsters the black market, as most of the state has already banned MMJ (over 95 bans statewide). This forces adults in ban areas to rely on illegal sales and risk criminal prosecution.
7. Amendment 64 sets a dangerous legal precedent of applying taxes to agricultural seed. (viable marijuana seed is defined as marijuana in Amendment 64). Per 39-26-716(4)(b) all sales and purchases of seeds are exempt from sales tax in Colorado. Amendment 64 taxes viable marijuana seed and specifically creates an excise tax on viable marijuana seed and this precedent could be incredibly harmful to Colorado farmers who use viable seed to produce non cannabis agriculture.
8. Amendment 64 provides no legal guidance on hemp and merely mandates the general assembly to pass legislation. This still allows the general assembly to ban hemp production.
9. Amendment 64 enshrines “driving while under the influence” (any amount over zero) and “driving while impaired” into our constitution, by deferring to current State DUID limits could prevent MMJ patients and other wise responsible adults who consume cannabis from legally driving.
10. At least 99% of the marketing of A64 over the last year has been done in violation of 1-13-109CRS-Concerning the election offense of making false statements designed to affect the vote. (http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/sl2005a/sl_305.htm). Telling everyone that A64 legalizes when they argued at title board hearings that A64 did NOT legalize, qualifies–and the question becomes–why lie? Why promise voters the whole enchilada only to serve up white rice?
If you CARE about more than just getting high, then please vote NO on 64.