SAFER HITS THE ROAD

The group that successfully passed a marijuana referendum at CU-Boulder is
taking its views on marijuana policies on the road to Denver.

"We're beginning the petition process for a citywide ballot initiative in
Denver," said Mason Tvert, the executive director of SAFER, for "Safer
Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation."

SAFER wants to amend the municipal ordinance in Denver and change the
city's code to make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana legal for
people 21 years of age and older. In April, the group successfully passed a
non-binding measure asking the CU-Boulder administration to ensure that
campus punishments for students for marijuana-use were no harsher than
those for alcohol use. CU-Boulder administrators have met with SAFER
leaders but have not announced a decision on amending the penalties.

On Tuesday, SAFER held a press conference in Denver to hand over election
documents to the election commission to get the petition process into "full
swing," according to Tvert.

Up until now, Tvert said SAFER has been doing "the behind-the-scenes
stuff," such as getting the language of the initiative approved.

The election commission now has three days to review SAFER's submission and
either approve or not approve documents that include the Petitioners'
Affidavit, ballot title and petition sample.

If the documents are not approved, SAFER can resubmit the materials for
another three-day review by the election commission.

"We have no reason to believe they would not approve of it," said Tvert,
"and at that point we will be able to start collecting signatures."

According to Allan McBeth, director of communications for the Denver
Election Commission, SAFER must obtain 5,383 valid signatures, which means
signatures of registered voters in the City of Denver.

As it stands now, the city ordinance maintains it is illegal for any person
to possess one ounce or less of marijuana.

"We are trying to add just five words to it that say 'under the age of
21'," said Tvert. "The idea being, people who are 21 years of age are able
to legally use a substance that's far more harmful (alcohol), so we don't
see why we should be wasting limited resources in the city on something
that is clearly less harmful (marijuana)."

John Poley, assistant director of prosecution and code enforcement for the
City of Denver, said the City cannot override state criminal charges.

"You can't allow at the municipal level what the state prohibits," said Poley.

He said "it would be a waste of everybody's time and energy" to push the
initiative.

Tvert said SAFER feels if the initiative is successful, it would set a tone
for the city and the state, and other cities might model policies after the
capital.

"The is that this would demonstrate the people's opinion and it would also
send a message to the city and its police force and its legal body saying
that they don't think this is how their money should be spent (on marijuana
enforcement for people 21 years and older)," said Tvert.

Denver City Council President Elbra Wedgeworth said if the group obtains
the required amount of valid signatures, then Council is obligated to put
it on the ballot, but that does not imply that Council members actually
support the initiative.

"I think it would be a very difficult sell," said Wedgeworth, who mentioned
that Denver has problems with drugs and alcohol abuse in various communities.

Tvert said the initiative does not advocate marijuana use among those under
21 years of age.

"We think it makes sense to discourage the use of marijuana for people
under the age of 21," said Tvert. "So clearly this is not trying to promote
the use of marijuana."