GROUP TO ASK DENVER VOTERS TO LEGALIZE POT

Effort Would Allow Up To An Ounce

A group that advocated to ease penalties for marijuana use on two
Colorado college campuses is taking its fight to Denver.

The executive director of SAFER - Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable
Recreation - said Monday the group intends to ask Denver voters to
make marijuana use legal in some cases.

Mason Tvert, SAFER's executive director, said the group will file
paperwork with the Denver Election Commission today in preparation
for a petition drive to get on the November ballot.

SAFER proposes that Denver legalize possession of 1 ounce or less of
marijuana by anyone 21 or older.

But Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell said that even if such a
measure passed, state law outlawing marijuana possession as a Class 2
petty offense, punishable by a fine of up to $100, would still apply in Denver.

If the commission approves the petition and ballot-question language,
SAFER would need to gather 5,383 signatures from registered Denver
voters to get the question on the November ballot. That threshold
represents 5 percent of the votes cast in Denver's last mayoral runoff.

Tvert said the group supports legalizing possession of small amounts
of marijuana to free police resources to combat a more damaging
substance: alcohol.

"Using the limited resources of the city to arrest and cite minor
marijuana use seems to be a misallocation of resources given that
there are so many alcohol-related (infractions) going on in Denver,"
Tvert said Monday.

Students at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University
this year overwhelmingly approved SAFER-sponsored referendums to
lighten penalties for marijuana. But the referendums were nonbinding,
and university officials declined to make the changes.

Some city officials on Monday deemed SAFER's newest proposal
half-baked. City Councilman Charlie Brown said SAFER will have
difficulty swaying voters.

"The goal is not just to get on the ballot," Brown said. "You don't
want to go through all of this unless you think you have a chance of
winning. And I think they're going to have a serious uphill battle to do that."

Council President Elbra Wedgeworth said the city will handle the
petition and ballot proposal as it does any other.

"We, of course, will follow what the law is if they turn in the
proper signatures," Wedgeworth said. "Would I support something like
(the proposal)? Probably not."