POT BACKERS TRY AGAIN

Billboard's Message Still Doesn't Satisfy Anti-Violence Forces

Colorado -- A billboard promoting a pro-marijuana initiative on the Nov. 1
ballot is new, but advocates for victims of domestic violence haven't
stopped fuming.

"Let's stop pretending that I-100 has anything to do with the issue of
preventing domestic violence," said Ellen Stein Wallace, executive director
of SafeHouse Denver, a women's shelter and counseling center. "The
billboard is still misleading. All they did is put the lie into words
instead of pictures." Supporters of the marijuana legalization initiative
on Wednesday unveiled a billboard proclaiming: "Alcohol use makes domestic
violence 8 times more likely . . . Marijuana use does not."

The text-only advertisement near Invesco Field at Mile High is a second
attempt to promote the initiative on a billboard.

The message on the first planned billboard was pulled after political
leaders and advocates for domestic violence victims condemned it on the
grounds that it was misleading and exploited the tragedy of abused women.

The billboard included a photo of a battered woman and her abuser, with the
slogan: "Reduce family and community violence in Denver. Vote Yes on I-100."

Nowhere did the billboard mention marijuana or that the measure's passage
would amend Denver law to make it legal for adults to possess one ounce or
less of the drug.

Anti-violence advocates said that while alcohol use may magnify abuse by
someone predisposed to domestic violence, drinking alone will not make
someone a batterer.

Mason Tvert, head of the Initiative 100 group, Safer Alternative for
Enjoyable Recreation, conceded Wednesday that the first billboard "offended
and upset a number of folks."

"We have decided to change it so that it is less graphic and more detailed
in conveying our message that if adults are allowed to use marijuana
instead of alcohol, we might be able to avert a number of alcohol-related
crimes that occur in this city," Tvert said.

The new billboard's message, underscoring in red the increased likelihood
of domestic violence when people drink alcohol, is based on a 2003 study by
addiction researchers at the State University of New York in Buffalo.

Researchers tracking 149 men with a history of domestic violence over 15
months found "the odds of any male-to-female aggression were more than
eight times . . . higher on days when men drank than on days of no alcohol
consumption."

The study also found that marijuana use alone was "not significantly
associated with an increased likelihood of male partner violence."

Domestic violence victim advocates say the new billboard continues to
deceive voters with a bogus message.

"We still get back to the same issue that they are trying to mask an issue
by stating that if you vote for this initiative it will reduce domestic
violence, and that is absolutely, categorically false," said Randy Saucedo,
advocacy director for the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

"Domestic violence is not caused by alcohol," he said. "It is caused by
people who want to have power and control (over their partner) and they
want to use violence to further it."