VOTE "NO" ON LATEST POT PUSH

The group behind 2005's city marijuana initiative is back. This time,
SAFER wants to dictate the jobs of police and prosecutors.

Denver voters this year have the opportunity to decide if adult
marijuana possession of one ounce or less should be the lowest
law-enforcement priority in the city.

To our way of thinking, the subject of telling police and prosecutors
how to prioritize pot possession should be the voters' lowest
priority this election. If you think the so-called war on drugs is
bogus and not working (which we do), it would be tempting to vote
"yes" on Denver's Initiated Question 100. But ultimately, we would
urge voters to check "no" when they get to that question, for many reasons.

First, marijuana possession is illegal under state and federal laws.
Why add another useless law to the city books?

The pending law also may be contrary to city and state charters that
make it a duty for police to enforce the law - no matter the priority level.

While the initiative is an attempt to tell police and prosecutors how
to enforce marijuana laws, it has no teeth. There is nothing in the
proposal that says what it means, in practice, to make a crime the
city's "lowest law-enforcement priority." Denver police say they will
continue to enforce state law.

Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell said in a memo that the
measure does not establish penalties for law-enforcement officers who
fail to follow the initiative and has no bearing on the district
attorney's office, since a city initiative can't tell a state officer
how to enforce laws. "If adopted, the ordinance may be viewed as
merely another attempt to 'send a message' to city officials and make
a symbolic statement in favor of marijuana decriminalization, but
with no real binding effect," Broadwell said.

The head of the group pushing the initiative, Mason Tvert, suggests
that if the proposal were to pass, the mayor could add some weight to
it by advising police that "voters have spoken" and that if they
happen to, say, stop a car for a traffic violation and in the process
find a small amount of marijuana, they should ignore it. Does
marijuana in a car on a public right-of-way constitute private use?

The initiative, in fact, does not define what "private" means. Most
marijuana arrests in Denver are made on the streets, in public parks
and in cars. Regardless, Tvert's suggestion is not based in reality.

In 2005, Denver voters approved a city initiative by SAFER Colorado -
the same group pushing the current measure - that made possession and
use of an ounce or less of marijuana legal for people over 21. (A
similar, statewide initiative was defeated in 2006.) Since most
marijuana possession cases are prosecuted in county court under state
law, not under city ordinance, Denver police have continued to make
arrests under state law, which makes possession of an ounce or less a
petty offense punishable by up to $100.

The group pushing the latest initiative calls itself SAFER, an
acronym that stands for Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation.
The group's motivation should be public safety, but it's not. It's
merely an effort to enable marijuana users to get high on something
besides alcohol and have an easier time of it.

As Denver police Sgt. Ernie Martinez put it, rather than trying to
legalize another dangerous drug, the group (and citizens in general)
ought to be encouraging sobriety.

Now there's an idea we can get behind.