POT QUESTION IS RIGHT STEP

A campaign to legalize marijuana in Colorado appears headed to the
November ballot, representing the logical next step in getting clarity
on what state residents truly want when it comes to the availability
and enforcement of the popular recreational drug, as opposed to the
medical use allowed under current law. This clarity has been missing
up to this point.

For many marijuana advocates, legalization is the ultimate goal, and
they say the passage of Amendment 20 in 2000 was the first major
stepping stone for achieving that goal. But the medical marijuana
industry that was borne out of Amendment 20 has been extremely
controversial, particularly in the past few years, when dispensaries
began cropping up in communities across the state, including Steamboat
Springs.

This past fall, voters in Routt County, Steamboat Springs and Oak
Creek voted against banning medical marijuana businesses in their
communities. Many other Colorado municipalities have gone the opposite
direction, with their residents approving bans on dispensaries.

Now, an advocacy group in Colorado has turned in a ballot petition
with about 160,000 signatures. If 86,000 of those signatures are from
valid state voters, the legalization initiative will make the November
ballot. The measure would make possession of as much as 1 ounce of
marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. Residents could grow as many
as six marijuana plants in their homes, and marijuana retail stores
would be permitted, though communities could choose to ban such stores.

A similar statewide measure badly failed in 2006, but it remains to be
seen how Coloradans' attitudes toward pot have changed in the six
years since, particularly with the explosion of the medical marijuana
industry.

We're not prepared to endorse or oppose the legalization of marijuana
in Colorado -- the consequences of legalization are far-reaching and
will be debated and discussed in the months to come -- but we do think
the ballot initiative is the proper path to take. This fall, when the
Steamboat Pilot & Today editorial board supported the ban on medical
marijuana dispensaries in Steamboat Springs and Routt County, it said
that if marijuana advocates want to see marijuana OK'd for
recreational use by residents, then they ought to bring it to the
voters. Now that they appear poised to do exactly that, we find
ourselves in complete support of bringing the question to the ballot.