YES ON 44

Colorado was the first state to vote to repeal alcohol prohibition in
1932, and we have the chance to be the first state to vote to repeal
cannabis (marijuana) prohibition with the passage of Amendment 44. In
1932, forward-thinking Colorado citizens put an initiative on the
ballot to repeal alcohol prohibition. It passed with 56 percent of the
vote.

However, in 1937, Congress enacted cannabis prohibition via the
Marijuana Tax Act. Cannabis prohibition created a new black market in
cannabis, which has led to the same violence and corruption seen in
the alcohol prohibition era. It also gave rise to government agencies
like the Drug Enforcement Administration, which not only uses your tax
dollars to arrest and imprison nonviolent cannabis users, but also
actively campaigns for cannabis prohibition in our democratic
elections.

In more than 10,000 years of almost constant human use,
cannabis has never caused a single overdose. It is safer than aspirin
and has many more medicinal uses. In 1988, the DEA's chief
administrative law judge called it the "safest therapeutically active
substances known to man." Cannabis, like alcohol, should be legal for
adults to use in the privacy of their own home for recreation as well
as medicine. It is prohibition that causes harm to society, not the
substance.

Alcohol prohibition only lasted from 1920 to 1933, a mere 13 years.
Cannabis prohibition has lasted an amazing 69 years. Why has it taken
so long to learn, again, that prohibition doesn't work?

In 2005, Denver voters ended cannabis prohibition for small amounts
possessed by adults in the city. In 2006, Colorado voters have the
chance to do the same thing. Let's uphold our proud tradition as a
bellwether state and be the first state to vote to repeal cannabis
prohibition and end this failed policy. Bring your friends to the
polls on Nov. 7, and vote YES on 44.

Laura Kriho

Nederland