I’ve never used marijuana and I’m not trying to encourage other people to use marijuana. But neither am I discouraging adults who want to responsibly use marijuana the same way as many people responsibly use alcohol and prescription drugs. The reason I promote the legalization of marijuana is that I am horrified by the way that our politicians make personal marijuana use a criminal justice issue. Arresting 800,000 people each year (the equivalent of the population of the state of South Dakota) is a waste of taxpayer dollars and it makes our streets violent. We should tax and regulate marijuana for the same reasons we did away with Prohibition. This position is advocated by many people with careers in law enforcement, including all members of LEAP.

Colorado is soon going to vote on Amendment 64, which would do the following:

• makes the personal use, possession, and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults 21 years of age and older;

• establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol; and

• allows for the cultivation, processing, and sale of industrial hemp.

Amendment 64 (here’s the full text) also does the following:

Amendment 64 removes all legal penalties for personal possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and for the home-growing of up to six marijuana plants, similar to the number allowed under current medical marijuana laws, in an enclosed, locked space.

The initiative creates legal marijuana establishments – retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities, and testing facilities – and directs the Department of Revenue to regulate a system of cultivation, production (including infused products), and distribution. . . .

The general assembly will be required to enact an excise tax of up to 15 percent on the wholesale sale of non-medical marijuana applied at the point of transfer from the cultivation facility to a retail store or product manufacturer. The first $40 million of revenue raised annually will be directed to the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund. . . .

The initiative does not change existing laws regarding driving under the influence of marijuana, and it allows employers to maintain all of their current employment and drug testing policies. . . .

Take a look at two commercials being run by the proponents of Amendment 64, on which the people of Colorado will vote in November:

Colorado has some smart and media savvy people working on this campaign, including Mason Tvert:

By the way check out Tvert’s comments on industrial hemp at the 3 minute mark. How bizarre is it that our politicians are so dysfunctional about the false alleged dangers of marijuana that they also outlaw industrial hemp, with which people cannot possibly get high? Listen to Tvert talk about the economic benefits of making marijuana and industrial hemp legal.