OPPONENTS, PROPONENTS TANGLE OVER MARIJUANA BALLOT ISSUE

DENVER - Legalizing small amounts of marijuana in Colorado will lead
to increased drug trafficking in the state, law enforcement officials
said Wednesday.

That, at least, was the message Pueblo Police Chief James Billings Jr.
and other ranking officers from across the state conveyed at an
anti-Amendment 44 press conference on the west steps of the Colorado
Capitol Building.

Because the initiative on this year's ballot would allow Coloradans to
possess less than an ounce of marijuana - but would still leave it
illegal to grow, purchase or sell - means people would have to break
the law in order to possess the weed.

And that, the law enforcement officials said, will lead to increased
drug trafficking.

"We have major problems with the people who are transporting the
drugs," Billings said immediately after the press conference. "There's
already so much violence related to drug trafficking. The
ramifications of a society that openly condones through its laws the
use of marijuana is dangerous. Currently, there's already a huge
amount of marijuana that's being trafficked into Colorado."

Amid loud heckling from proponents of the measure, the sheriffs spoke
out against the amendment along with Gov. Bill Owens and Attorney
General John Suthers, who also said the initiative would lead the
state's teens to try other, harder drugs.

Suthers, who was shouted down the loudest by supporters of a group
calling itself Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, said there
is nothing safe about marijuana.

The attorney general said the active chemical substance that is
responsible for the high from marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,
has been increasing in the marijuana plant.

"Corresponding to the increase in the THC content of marijuana is a
six-fold increase in the number of emergency room admissions
attributable to marijuana," Suthers said over the proponents'
chanting. "There are now 4.6 million Americans who suffer from
marijuana dependency. The drafters of Amendment 44 were extremely
sloppy. If the voters approve Amendment 44, they will be legalizing
the transfer of less than an ounce of marijuana (to a teen). That is
truly irresponsible."

In a press conference of his own immediately following, SAFER campaign
manager Mason Tvert chastised the governor for not being willing to
debate him on the issue.

Presenting a former police chief of his own - one from Seattle - Tvert
said there is no evidence that marijuana is more detrimental than
alcohol or leads people to try other illegal substances.

That former police chief, Norman Stamper, has written a book,
"Breaking Rank: A top cop's expose about the dark side of American policing."

"I heard a steady stream of untruths," Stamper said of the opponents'
press conference. "I will not call them lies because I think people
who believe what they're saying and go ahead and say that are not
lying; they're uninformed. I think it's tragic that police officials
particularly, as well as other elected officials, don't do their
homework. Marijuana is not a gateway drug. If there is a gateway drug,
it's a combination of tobacco and beer."

Though Owens was smiling at the shouting opponents at the beginning of
the press conference, he attacked them at the end, saying their
heckling marked a sad day for open political discourse.

"This is a sad day for Colorado when people who have a permit aren't
allowed to speak," the governor said. "We have a permit today, we have
men and women who really care about the future of Colorado, and we're
literally being shouted down by the other side.

"I've been involved in Colorado policy for almost three decades," he
shouted at the proponents. "I have never seen a time when legitimate
debate is shouted down like we're seeing today. If the citizens of
Colorado have any doubt as to who's right on this issue, I hope
they'll look at the (law enforcement) men and women behind me this
morning, look at this audience that isn't allowing free debate in the
state of Colorado, and judge accordingly."