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Lit_Match

Pot Group Pushing New Initiative
05-18-07|Rocky Mountain News|By Daniel J. Chacon

Denver police would have to make possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults their lowest law enforcement priority under a proposal a pro-pot group is pushing.

"We're doing this because the city has been unwilling to recognize the fact that people in Denver do not think adults should be punished for using marijuana, a less harmful drug than alcohol," Mason Tvert, executive director of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, said Thursday.

In 2005, voters approved Initiative 100, which legalized, under city ordinances, possession and private use of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults.

Since then, arrests in the city for misdemeanor possession under state law actually have gone up.

"The people of the city have no other option but to move forward with a measure to tell the city how they want it run," Tvert said.

Tvert is meeting with city officials at 2 p.m. Monday for a hearing on the proposed ordinance. Tvert said he will then begin a signature-gathering drive to put an initiative on the November ballot.

David Broadwell, an assistant city attorney, said there is still a question whether a policy through an initiated ordinance can be enforced in the city.

"I don't think we've ever had an initiative quite like this one," he said, referring to its directive regarding the administrative behavior of the executive branch.