A Colorado committee formed to defeat a marijuana issue on the November ballot has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to weigh in with his opposition.
Amendment 64 would allow adults statewide to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use.
The measure is opposed by a citizens group called Smart Colorado, which is represented by the Denver law firm of Holland & Hart.
In a letter to Holder, Smart Colorado attorney Jon Anderson noted that Colorado’s ballot measure “parallels” a California measure, Proposition 19, that voters there defeated in 2010.
The Department of Justice “aggressively” opposed that measure, Anderson said, and Smart Colorado wants the department to do the same in Colorado.
“As you know, Colorado has the most expansive medical marijuana industry in the country,” he wrote Holder. “To further expand their drug profits, this industry will invest enormous sums of money to erase all state restrictions on growing, transporting, and selling marijuana in Colorado. It is critical that Colorado voters understand the serious legal and policy implications of passing such a dangerous law.”
The letter surprised Mason Tvert, the leader of pro-Amendment 64 groups.
“This seems like a politically tone-deaf request in light of the recent Rasmussen poll showing 61 percent of likely voters in Colorado support regulating marijuana like alcohol,” he said. “Whoever is asking the Obama administration to oppose Amendment 64 must be secretly rooting for Mitt Romney to be elected president in November.”
Five campaign committees supporting Amendment 64 have collected close to $2 million in money and in-kind donations to try to ensure its passage, according to filings with Colorado secretary of state. Tvert’s group is the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.
He was critical of Smart Colorado, describing it as a “small group of law-enforcement officials” who want the federal government to “interfere with Colorado’s business.”
Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, who helped organize the opposition group, said it is a “broad-based coalition of individuals concerned with our children’s health.”
Read more: AG Eric Holder urged to oppose Colorado marijuana ballot issue – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_20843643/#ixzz1xoQmWMu2
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Source: Denver Post (CO)
Author: Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post
Published: June 13, 2012
Copyright: 2012 The Denver Post
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/
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