Following win, Colorado marijuana activists debate how hard to push

By John Ingold | The Denver Post

November 24, 2012 at 1:09 p.m.

Colorado marijuana activists, empowered after backing a successful legalization effort in the state, are in the midst of a dialogue about how far to press their success.

At a recent forum, advocates talked about whether the movement should continue to step lightly in Colorado politics — being accommodating toward law enforcement and welcoming of strict regulations — or act like a political powerhouse whose measure garnered more votes than any presidential, gubernatorial or U.S. Senate candidate has ever received in Colorado.

“We have a mandate,” said attorney Christian Sederberg, one of the legalization campaign’s chief organizers. “We need to lead, and we need to flex that muscle — with deference to certain things.”

It is a classic political dilemma: If election wins can be said to grant political capital, how, then, is it best spent?

That is new territory for marijuana-legalization supporters, who have never before won such widespread support for such widespread change. Amendment 64, the initiative that legalized limited possession and retail sales of marijuana in Colorado, passed in 34 of the state’s 64 counties. It won in liberal Denver by more than 90,000 votes and in conservative El Paso County by 10 votes.

Statewide, 1.36 million voters cast their ballot for the amendment.

Buoyed by those figures, lawyer Rob Corry said he believes activists should move aggressively to implement Amendment 64 to what he says is its full extent.

“This is a lot better than it was even advertised,” Corry said at the forum, attended by medical-marijuana business owners interested in transferring to the recreational market.

For instance, the measure gives individuals the constitutional right to grow up to six marijuana plants and keep all of the harvest from those plants without fear of state prosecution. There are no limits on how big the plants can be, Corry said. The measure also allows people to join together to grow marijuana — meaning people could form large-scale cooperatives that produce marijuana by the pound without needing a license so long as none of the marijuana is sold, Corry said.

And, because the measure prohibits marijuana use only that is done “openly and publicly or in a manner that endangers others,” Corry said private businesses will be able to allow marijuana smoking on site.

“You can have an Amsterdam-style private coffee shop,” Corry said at Tuesday’s forum.

Corry’s enthusiasm, though, was tempered by others at the forum, who cautioned that implementing marijuana legalization too brazenly could cause a backlash.

“That’s the riskiest place you can be,” lawyer Sean McAllister said of Corry’s vision for Colorado’s cannabis future.

“Part of what’s going to allow this system to go forward is responsible behavior. While I want you to be aggressive and assertive, you also have to be responsible.”

Of particular concern is the response of the federal government, which considers marijuana illegal. Mike Elliott, a medical-marijuana advocate, said the new recreational-marijuana businesses and groups will need to show they can be good citizens to keep the federal government from crushing the whole system.

“We do need to distinguish between what is right and what is smart,” Elliott said.

But Sederberg said activists shouldn’t be concerned about pleasing the feds. Regulations should instead focus on helping marijuana businesses fit in with their communities.

“We cannot give up what we won,” Sederberg said. “We cannot kowtow and lose what we got because we’re afraid of federal intervention. … They have the upper hand from the legal perspective. But we have the momentum, the spirit and the people behind us.”

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingold