GROUP SEEKS TO LEGALIZE POT BY BALLOT MEASURE

Some Denver college students want to legalize marijuana, and they plan on
taking their case to voters in November.

An activists group dubbed Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation filed
paperwork with the Denver Election Commission on Tuesday to initiate the
process of collecting signatures to place on the ballot an initiative that
would make smoking marijuana legal in Denver.

"The facts make it painfully clear: Denver's favorite legal drug (alcoholic
beverages) causes far more harm than its favorite illegal drug," said Mason
Tvert, executive director of the group.

Election commissioners will hold a special meeting Friday to decide whether
to allow the initiative to move forward, said Karon Hatchett, executive
director of the election commission.

The group spearheading the effort must collect at least 5,400 signatures to
get it on the Nov. 1 ballot.

City Council member Jeanne Faatz called the effort misguided, saying the
city has no authority to legalize marijuana.