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."