Organizers of an initiative [7] that would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in Colorado turned in more than 110,000 signatures to the secretary of state Monday afternoon. The initiative needs 67,829 valid signatures to make the November ballot.
If the measure makes the ballot, Colorado will join Nevada as states where voters will have a chance to decide on removing all criminal penalties for the possession of personal amounts of marijuana by adults. Currently, Alaska is the only state to allow adults to legally possess marijuana -- up to one ounce in the privacy of their homes.
Organized by SAFER Colorado [8], the initiative is an effort to replicate the success the group had in Denver last year, where residents voted to legalize the possession of up to an ounce under city ordinance. Denver police and prosecutors, however, have ignored that vote and continue to ticket and arrest people under state law.
"This past November, the people of the city of Denver voted to make the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal for adults under city ordinances," said SAFER campaign director Mason Tvert. "Yet our cowardly city officials blatantly ignored the will of the people and have continued arresting and prosecuting Denver residents under state law for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol. We think that is wrong, and it appears more than 110,000 people in the great state of Colorado agree with us."