Marijuana legalization low-key by design in Colorado
DENVER (AP) - Colorado gave a lonely reception to marijuana when it became the second state to legalize the drug. Just as state leaders planned.
Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday quietly removed the final barrier to legalization by declaring that an amendment passed by voters in November was officially part of the state constitution. He announced the move on Twitter and email after the fact. In response, a handful of marijuana activists celebrated by toking up on the Capitol steps, but there were no crowds and little fanfare.
It was a different scene in Washington state, which last week became the first state to legalize marijuana. There, activists counted down to legalization outside Seattle landmarks such as the Space Needle. Colorado officials wanted no such revelry.
Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the marijuana measure, said he purposely sought a low-key enactment.
Colorado law gave him until Jan. 5 to declare marijuana legal. He told reporters he saw no reason to wait and didn't see any point in letting marijuana become legal without his proclamation.
"I could have made a bigger deal out of it, you know, tried to make a hoopla out of it," Hickenlooper told reporters after the marijuana declaration.
"But if we are concerned about young people thinking that this ... is really in some way a tacit endorsement, that's it's OK to smoke pot - we're trying to mitigate that as much as possible," he said.
About two dozen marijuana activists gathered outside Hickenlooper's office on the Capitol steps to pass around joints and bongs after the announcement. Public consumption in both states remains illegal, but no police officers were in sight of the small celebration in Denver.
"It smells like freedom," said a smiling, puffing Timothy Tipton, a longtime marijuana activist.
When Colorado's marijuana measure passed last month with 55 percent of the vote, Hickenlooper cautioned pot smokers not to get too excited because the drug remains illegal under federal law. Colorado and Washington officials both reached out to federal authorities to see if they planned to sue to block the state pot measures. There's been no signal, with federal authorities simply repeating that the Controlled Substances Act remains intact.
Hickenlooper said there are still many questions to be answered about how federal authorities plan to respond to state marijuana legalization. Colorado's measure specifically directs lawmakers to regulate commercial sales of marijuana, something federal authorities have repeatedly said they won't allow.
The governor said he's not frustrated by the slow federal response.
"They're going as fast as they can," Hickenlooper said. "There's no black and white, right and wrong answer here."
Colorado's constitution now allows adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, and six plants. Hickenlooper has set up a task force of lawmakers, law enforcement, marijuana activists and agriculture officials to suggest how the drug should be regulated. The group has a February deadline for suggesting pot rules, which must be approved by the Legislature.
Pay attention Colorado & Washington
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"The governor said he's not frustrated by the slow federal response. "They're going as fast as they can," Hickenlooper said. "There's no black and white, right and wrong answer here.""
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Considering the speed at which they sued Arizona over that state's immigration law, they most certainly can move faster if they chose to.
If the federal government would have acted, I figured they would have by now. Goes to show that there's much more out there to concentrate on.
 @PDXBEAR They'll probably wait until there's some serious money to confiscate from the states.Â
 @Lips That seems about right.
We'll see how this play out. . . .
I love it....... I hope this encourages many people to smoke lots of pot.
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Why? Â It is a tight job market out there, and I figure that most of these wasteoids will soon be out of the 'competition'.
 @LakeOSteve A lot of employers don;t even drug test. I worked in a psych facility passing meds and they never had me pee in a cup. It all depends on the employer. Besides, if you really apply yourself you CAN find a job here. The market isn't so tight now, so anyone who claims they cant find something clearly isn't looking. If you want a job bad enough you can flip burgers. Some people are just too good to do it though.
 @LakeOSteve oh, I know the new Target in Jantzen Beach can't keep good workers and they need people. You should apply.
Colorado seems to have done it right. The slow federal response should have to do with the huge amount of higher priorities it faces this time of year.Â
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 @Playanekes The potential for billions of dollars to be taken out of the hands of the industries that want to keep it illegal seems like a top priority to me. The slow federal response could be by design. Like Lips said, "...wait until there's some serious money to confiscate from the states", or maybe wait until the first State transaction.
@str1ngb3nd3r I also think they're going to let it ride and use it as a test case to see what data they can gather from it. Washington DC isn't popular or trusted enough to force its will too deeply on the populace... Especially way out here in the west. A fascinating comment I read somewhere questioned whether they would be able to relax the border patrol ops along Canada and redeploy them along the Mexican border since there's virtually no motive to smuggle marijuana across into Washington state anymore.
 @Playanekes I agree. As long as I can remember, it's always been the less desirable crowd that likes to flaunt their weed use. Which has been somewhat of a problem when it comes to endorsement from the non 'cheeto eating'', non ''whoa man'' non ''I live in moms basement'' type. I've found the majority of those that publicly 'toke' to be the low end reps. It is and always will be the professionals style to show a little class. I wouldn't down a fifth of Petrone in public and I won't be sucking on a doobie on the steps of city hall, either.