Proponents of the measure filed a lawsuit to delay the printing of 's ballot information booklet, also known as the blue book. According to reports, the booklet was sent to voters in the state to provide details on ballot measures that are on the general election ballot. The lawsuit argued that the legislative committee struck key language in the section describing arguments in support of the initiative from the final draft of the booklet.
However, on September 13, , the lawsuit was dismissed by Denver District Court Judge Robert Hyatt due to what reports said was a "jurisdictional issue. In order to qualify the initiative for the ballot in the state, supporters were required to gather 85, valid signatures by the August 6, petition drive deadline.
Suggestions that the committee gave pertaining to the wording of the proposals included clarifying the state's medical marijuana laws and other references to it. Other suggestions included technical matters such as using both "ensure" and "insure" throughout the proposals.
According to reports, more specifics about what the phrase "under the age of 21" meant were requested. During the week of June 15, , it was reported that all eight filed ballot measures were under review by a state election review board.
Supporters of the measure will wait to hear from legal challenges before deciding on which measure they will move forward with and collect signatures for. Challenges were made to the proposed ballot measure language by marijuana legalization supporters during the week of July 6, Challenges included the accusation that comparing the drug to alcohol was flawed.
There was no limit to alcohol purchases in the state, but the ballot proposal included a provision that marijuana possession had limits, according to the challenge. Other supporters of legalization said that it was too much to ask voters to approve marijuana with no limits, hinting that it could fail if placed on the ballot.
Despite protests from other marijuana supporters who claimed the measure was flawed, signature collection began on July 7, According to one of the petition drive organizers, Mason Tvert, the campaign aimed to appeal to Republicans and older voters instead of those who are already on board with the proposal.
The campaign behind the initiative used a combination of paid circulators and volunteers. Signatures gathering expenditures were made to the professional petition companies Lamm Consulting and Rocky Mountain Voter Outreach, as well as to various individuals. Expenditures denoted as "pizza for volunteers" and "pens for signature petitioners" were also fairly common among the group's campaign finance filing reports.
As of September 1, , the campaign to put the initiative on the ballot had collected 35, signatures, according to reports.
It was reported on September 24, that supporters had collected nearly half of the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. According to reports, supporters of the initiative planned to turn in signatures on January 4, Supporters stated they would submit more than , signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State 's office. Signatures were submitted that day. However, on February 3, , the Colorado Secretary of State announced that the initiative effort had fallen short about 2, signatures.
According to reports, supporters of the proposal had until February 15, to submit the additional signatures required to make the ballot. Supporters of the initiative turned in the additional signatures needed to make the ballot. On February 27, , the Colorado Secretary of State verified the signatures, placing the measure on the ballot. Colorado will no longer have laws that steer people toward using alcohol, and adults will be free to use marijuana instead if that is what they prefer.
And we will be better off as a society because of it. This is the second time Colorado voted on legal weed, in Coloradans voted the measure down, but not in Tvert told The Huffington Post in an August interview why he thought this year might be different:. The initiative would have simply removed the penalties for the possession of marijuana legal for individuals 21 years of age or older.
The current initiative proposes a fully regulated system of cultivation and sales, which will eliminate the underground marijuana market and generate tens of millions of dollars per year in new revenue and criminal justice savings. It also directs the legislature to regulate the cultivation of industrial hemp, a versatile, popular, and environmentally friendly agricultural crop. More importantly, voters are more informed about marijuana than ever before.
They have also experienced the emergence of a state-regulated medical marijuana system that has not produced any serious problems, but has provided a number of benefits. We now know that marijuana cultivation and sales can be regulated, and that medical marijuana businesses do not contribute to increased crime. We have also seen marijuana use among high school students decrease since the state began implementing regulations, whereas it has increased nationwide where there are no regulations.
And, of course, localities and the state have seen how much revenue can be generated through the legal sale of marijuana that would have otherwise gone into the underground market.
Voters in Colorado no longer need to imagine what a legal and regulated system of marijuana sales would look like; they have seen it. It's also worth noting that is a presidential election year, so we will benefit from increased voter turnout compared to an off-year election like Historically, the more people who vote, the more support marijuana reform initiatives receive.
On the same night that Colorado passed Amendment 64, Washington state passed Initiative which regulates and taxes sales of small amounts of marijuana for adults, The Associated Press reports. Oregon also had a similar recreational marijuana measure on the ballot, but as of publishing and with 47 percent of precincts reporting, it looked as if it would not pass.
Since then, various mechanisms of state government have been looking at how to implement the amendment, including how best to regulate and tax the sale of recreational marijuana.
Subsequent to the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee, the Colorado General Assembly referred a measure to the November ballot to tax marijuana statewide at the following rates:. This update to our earlier work estimates the state revenue potential from these taxes for the first full fiscal year of operation of the recreational marijuana market.
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