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Watch the Colorado Marijuana Legalization Debate Online

Great Legalization Debates of 2012 — Round One

Wed., June 22, 2011

6:30pm to 7:00pm: Updates from Legalize2012.com
7:00pm to 9:00pm: Debate
9:00pm to 11:00pm: Music Provided by Colorado Goatherders

Casselman’s Bar and Venue, 2620 Walnut, Denver, CO

Free and Open to the Public

Moderated by Patricia Calhoun of Westword

Westword Debate Preview:
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/06/marijuana_legalization_debate_preview.php

Several Colorado groups are interested in putting a citizen’s initiative on
the ballot in 2012 to amend the state Constitution to “legalize” cannabis,
but what does “legalization” really mean? Can all these groups work
together to create true legalization based on cannabis freedom? In attempt
to find unity among these groups, Legalize2012.com has organized the “Great
Legalization Debates of 2012″. The goal of the debates is to discuss ideas,
policy and strategy on what will work best to protect Colorado cannabis
consumers from arrest, prosecution and discrimination. Colorado is a model
for the rest of the country, yet we don’t have a clear idea of what is the
best cannabis law for the state.

Participants:
- Legalize2012.com: The Cannabis Re-legalization Act
- Paul Danish, former Boulder County Commissioner and Boulder City
Councilman: The Danish Plan: Marijuana use shall not be punished
- Rev. Brandon Baker of the Greenfaith Ministry: Colorado Safer Communities
& Health Initiative, modeled after homebrewing
- Mason Tvert, MPP/DPA/Sensible/SAFER – gives DOR/Law Enforcement total
control of marijuana in Colorado
- Kathleen Chippi, the “Inalienable Right” model. Amend Article 2, Section
3 of the Colorado Constitution, making cannabis an inalienable right
- Corey Donahue, Crazy for Justice: Free Colorado Cannabis Act

With increasing public support for legalization, the question is not when
cannabis will be re-legalized, but how it will be re-legalized. Cannabis
hasn’t been legal in Colorado for all adults since 1937. Will Colorado’s
new legalization look like it did in the early 1900s, or will it look like
something new in the 21st Century? Now is the time for a Cannabis
Constitutional Convention, so we can all get together and discuss the
future of cannabis in Colorado.

Join us in this lively and friendly debate amongst legalization supporters
to determine the best path for a Colorado citizen’s ballot initiative to
amend the Constitution in 2012.

Join Us in Shaping Cannabis Policy for the 21st Century

==============================================
WATCH LIVE ONLINE
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/legalize2012
==============================================

MODERATED BY PATRICIA CALHOUN OF WESTWORD
Patricia Calhoun, editor of Westword, Denver’s alternative weekly
newspaper, has agreed to moderate the debate. Calhoun has hosted many
political debates in her long career covering Colorado politics. Westword
has covered Colorado cannabis politics extensively, so Calhoun will be the
perfect unbiased referee to what is sure to be a heated discussion.

Please copy and redistribute this announcement.

Printable PDF Poster:
http://www.legalize2012.com/news/debates/debate.poster1.pdf

—
The Great Legalization Debates of 2012 are sponsored by:
Legalize2012.com
“Take the Greed Out of the Weed”
P.O. Box 19084, Boulder, CO 80308
Phone: 877-420-4205
Web: http://www.Legalize2012.com

Boulder County Resident Suing Colorado Over Medical Marijuana Policy

By Jefferson Dodge Boulder Weekly

At least one Boulder County resident is planning to challenge state laws regulating the medical marijuana industry in court this month, and dispensaries are being asked to chip in to fund the effort.

Kathleen Chippi, a Nederland resident and former dispensary owner, says that within the next week, she plans to file a constitutional challenge to legislation such as HB 1284, which sets up strict regulations and surveillance systems for dispensaries and other medical marijuana operations in the state. Chippi and other advocates say the new laws go too far and violate patients’ rights secured under Amendment 20 of the Colorado Constitution, which was passed by the state’s voters in 2000.

“I’m just asking that we abide by the Constitution,” Chippi says. “That’s not radical.”

Chippi says that she still needs to raise about $10,000 to cover her legal costs, but she is determined to file the legal challenge through her attorney, Andrew Reid, even if she doesn’t have the funds before the July 1 deadline.

Chippi and Laura Kriho of the Cannabis Therapy Institute, which is helping support the legal challenge, say they have grown tired of medical marijuana attorneys like Rob Corry who they say have been dragging their feet after pledging to file similar lawsuits.

Kriho says she has been getting an increasing number of calls from dispensary owners who are frustrated in their attempts to adhere to the stringent and costly monitoring and security systems they must set up by July 1 under the new state laws and regulations.

“They’re trying to jump through the hoops and are now at the end of their ropes,” she says.

Jason Lauve, the medical marijuana patient who was acquitted by a jury in a high-profile August 2009 case after being prosecuted for possessing more marijuana than allowed under Amendment 20, has been circulating an email raising funds for a constitutional challenge to the state’s medical marijuana laws as well. It’s unclear whether he is raising funds for Chippi’s lawsuit or his own, but in an email he discusses retaining Reid.

Lauve says in his email that the challenge will be narrowly focused on a few specific areas, including patient privacy, allowing doctors into medical marijuana centers, the five patient-per-caregiver limit, caregiver registration and local bans/regulations.

He did not return calls by press time.

Among Kriho’s concerns are the radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that will be used to track medical marijuana from seed to sale, using readers similar to those used to inventory merchandise in stores. Kriho says she is concerned that if the signal from those RFID tags is not encrypted, someone could buy a reader and scan for marijuana outside warehouses or patients’ homes and “see what RFID tags you have in your medicine cabinet.”

Reid represented Chippi in her unsuccessful attempt in January to convince the Colorado Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the state’s medical marijuana laws. Reid, who describes himself as a constitutional lawyer — not a medical marijuana attorney or legalization crusader — confirmed that he still represents Chippi and has another active lawsuit involving Douglas County dispensaries in which he is challenging the constitutionality of the state’s laws and regulations.

For more information on Chippi’s effort, see
http://www.CannabisLawsuits.com

—
Re-distributed as a Public Service by the:
Cannabis Therapy Institute
P.O. Box 19084, Boulder, CO 80308
Phone: 877-420-4205
Web: www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com
Email: info@cannabistherapyinstitute.com