Dakota News Now interviewed Colorado Springs, CO, Mayor John Suthers (FF: 7:30). While I was disappointed that DNN did not also interview proponents of IM 27, it didn’t seem to matter since Mayor Suthers buried himself. When asked if he has data to back up his claims about an increase in crime he says,
“I don’t have numbers . . . but I know we have a lot of them (crimes).”
He also could not provide data linking an increase in traffic deaths to marijuana use, but he ‘personally’ believes there is a link (without mentioning a 100K increase in population since Rec MJ was approved in Colorado).
Once again, a small group of officials who are opposed to decriminalizing recreational MJ are pulling crap from their behinds.
It is worth noting that all IM 27 really does is decriminalize the use of Rec MJ for adults 21 and over. The state legislature will be responsible for the regulation and taxation of a commercial retail product. This means it will give an enormous amount of control to local jurisdictions. Just because you vote to pass IM 27 doesn’t mean it will be the Wild West of pot. Larger cities in SD could choose to limit dispensaries to 1-2 to NONE.
I have argued that the state, counties and cities will save millions in law enforcement and justice costs while raking in millions more from taxation. There have been numerous studies that have proven this. The mayor of Colorado Springs has chosen a different path, he has chosen to not allow the sale of MJ in his community and because of that is getting NO benefit from taxation to fight the black market and illegal minor use. That’s on him.
“You guys and your Mary Jane”… “All a guy really needs in life is a 2 liter bottle of Diet Pepsi, a big box of Milk Duds, a couple Mexican Pizzas from Taco Bell, and…. Oh yeah, Dua’s most recent 8 track tape”… #SmokeBacon đ
Isn’t Colorado Springs a big fundamentalist town? But Jesus with his long hair and sandals always looked like a true smoker to me. They also don’t have a big mountain nearby, rather they call it Pikes Peak and they also have Garden of the Gods. With names like that, there had to have been some serious smoking going on around there at sometime…. AND, don’t forget about Cheyenne Mountain nearby, too, where NORAD likes to track Santa each year. Santa? Really? Now, that’s some serious smoking, if you ask me…
Scott, I honestly hope you are right and I’m wrong on this issue, but I’m still concerned about traffic/driving under the influence and our lungs:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-legal-weed-has-changed-the-us-for-better-and-worse/2022/06/09/6bc6299a-e801-11ec-a422-
11bbb91db30b_story.html
( and Woodstock adds: “Say, did you see where Burger King is coming out with a new ‘Baconator’ hamburger?”…)
“‘Santa’?”…. “But I thought fundamentalists always warned us that Santa has the same letters in it as Satan?”….
I could swear that the last time I was in Colorado Springs, I saw several dispensaries.
Bill, they may have been MED MJ dispensaries, which they do have in CS.
Wow. A well written piece I agree with. I must be coming down with something.
Bill, the ‘burbs around CO Springs have them. I visited rec dispensary in Manitou Sporings (for example) a few years back. There is a freeway that separates the 2 towns. Garden of the Gods is actually in Manitou Springs, not CO Springs. It’s across the freeway to the North from my buddy’s back yard.
But isn’t it all God(‘)s(‘) Country? Also, smoking can have a mirage effect where dispensaries then begin to appear and Gods, too…. #IsThatSantaOverThere? CS also has an US Olympic camp nearby and the AF Academy. It’s a town where you can climb, run, jump, and fly, and also fly in an AF plane. A nuclear capability, Mary Jane, and religion can’t be a good mixture, however, unless it’s done right and in the right order.
I want to ask this guy the same question I ask anyone who seems so stanchly anti-MJ.
Why should MJ be illegal when alcohol is legal?
If you look at the raw numbers, alcohol is by every measure worse for society, destroys more lives, kills more people, is responsible for more crime than MJ. So why is it somehow “Better” than MJ. Unless they are also lobbying to turn their city into a “Dry” city that doesn’t have bars or liquor stores, they’re just being hypocrites.
Sell it, Tax it, Regulate the hell out of it.
If you find someone giving it to minors, throw the book at them.
If someone is driving impaired, we already have laws for that.
Take the taxes on it and invest in treating any social ills that are caused.
Be happy that police, the courts, and the prison system won’t be wasting resources going after a guy with a joint their pocket.
“I’ve always wanted to participate in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, but with all of its curves it would be hard for a guy like me to both steer and gun my Yugo at the same time”… “Let alone be smoking as well”… “So for now, I’ll stick to the Turner County Fair Demolition Derby”…. đ
You need to use your religion to justify nuking others, then you can start smoking to ease your anxiety about your decision. I believe that’s what Truman did back in the day. Truman with a reefer: Did Bess ever know? AND, no wonder he was often known as the Man from Independence. He was also from the ‘Show Me State’. #LookAtMyStash ….Also, if you are smoking and showing things, then I think you have had enough.
Why make it worse? I don’t think the legalization of marijuana replaces alcohol, but rather adds to the already “alcohol problem”. We already tried to outlaw alcohol once, and that didn’t work very well. Because it’s much harder to put something back in a can, then to never manufacturer the can good to begin with.
( and Woodstock adds: “Actually, I was once at a kegger with no red cups so I had to put it back into an empty can and it worked quite well”…. )
vote no on 27, so arch beal can keep selling budweiser.
Beal and Kolbeck are both from the liquor industry, right? Boy, that’s a fact that doesn’t go down easy.