POT PLAN WOULD STRAIN AUTHORITIES, FOES SAY

Voter approval of a statewide ballot measure that would legalize
possession of small amounts of marijuana would put further strains on
federal law enforcement officials, opponents of the proposal said Wednesday.

Drug runners will begin trafficking large amounts of marijuana to
sell if Colorado voters approve the amendment, drug enforcement
agency special agent Jeffrey Sweetin said.

Large amounts, he added, become a serious federal problem.

"It will clearly impact what we do," he said.

"Right now, a smaller amount of focus is on pot, but if this passes,
we will be able to focus less and less on other drugs, and pot will
become a major focus."

Standing with medical professionals, Sweetin and Lt. Gov. Jane Norton
urged voters to reject Amendment 44 in November.

That measure would legalize possession of less than an ounce of
marijuana by adults throughout Colorado.

Calvina Fay, executive director of Florida-based Save Our Society
from drugs, said "the stakes are very high" because she believes that
this is just the first step toward the pro-Amendment 44 forces'
eventual goal of legalizing all drugs throughout the nation.

She also said that legalization would undo much of the anti-drug
education that has been a staple of educating youth.

"Messages that drugs can hurt, addict or kill have had a positive
effect by decreasing overall drug use," Fay said.

"Certainly by legalizing and normalizing, you're sending the wrong
message to children."

The fight over the ballot measure, which a recent Rocky Mountain
News/CBS 4 poll showed to be failing 53 percent to 42 percent, has
centered largely on the medical effects of marijuana and the age of
those who would be allowed to smoke the drug.

Fay said that the amendment would make it legal for an adult to give
an ounce of marijuana to a 15-year-old, but proponents said that is misleading.

Mason Tvert, campaign manager for a group that supports the
amendment, said that there are already laws on the books that make it
a felony to provide marijuana to a minor.

His group wants to make it legal only for those over 21 to possess
pot, he said.

Tvert said the opposition forces "bend the truth" about marijuana and
are using scare tactics to defeat the measure - including the charge
that they're part of a national movement to legalize all drugs and
are funded by wealthy individuals and political action groups.

"I have no interest in other drugs, and we don't intend to run a
statewide campaign anywhere else in the country," Tvert said.

"They're also trying to say we took money from (billionaire
Democratic donor) George Soros. We've never received a cent from
George Soros, and believe me, if he offered me $1 or $1,000, I'd take it."