POT LAWS TRIGGER DEBATE

Sheriff, House Candidate Speak Out On Legalization

Steamboat Springs -- Routt County Sheriff John Warner said the vast
majority of people in the Routt County Jail are in custody for the same reason.

"What we see generally in the jail, I venture to say, is that at
least 90 percent of the people brought to us are under the influence
of alcohol or drugs. Or the reason they're brought here is because of
an alcohol or drug dependency," Warner said. "If somebody could
figure out how to stop that substance abuse, our jails would be far
less populated. And certainly, legalizing marijuana would not be a
step in the right direction."

Warner adamantly opposes Amendment 44, which will be on the state
ballot Nov. 7 and would legalize possession of an ounce or less of
marijuana for Colorado adults 21 years of age or older.

Supporters of Amendment 44 say the initiative is a question of choice
and personal freedom, not just about the use of a drug that
supporters say is less harmful and destructive than alcohol.

"For a long time now, I've believed that the war on drugs is a
violation of our constitutional rights," said Mike Kien, an Oak
Creek resident and Libertarian candidate for the state House of
Representatives. "Your choice in recreational drug use should be
equal -- and drinking alcohol is obviously a more detrimental choice."

Warner called the idea that marijuana is safer than alcohol "fiction."

"I don't buy that at all," Warner said. "Marijuana, in my opinion,
is the same as any other drug. If we legalize marijuana, then should
we legalize cocaine? Sobriety is the only safe alternative."

Warner also said marijuana has become much more potent during the
past 20 years, because of increasingly higher levels of the druga€TMs
active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

"It's like trying to measure the difference between beer and
vodka," Warner said.

Support for Amendment 44 is spearheaded by the Denver group SAFER, or
Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, led by Mason Tvert. The
group's Web site states that, unlike alcohol, marijuana does not lead
to overdose deaths, sexual assaults, domestic violence or violent crime.

The wording of Amendment 44 is simple. "Shall there be an amendment
to section 18-18-406 (1) of the Colorado revised statutes making
legal the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana for any person
twenty-one years of age or older?" reads the entire ballot language.

To Kien, the answer is simple.

"This nation spends $40 billion a year trying to put people in jail
for victimless crimes," he said. "It's time to stop the insanity."