Colorado Group Launches Campaign to Place Statewide Marijuana Initiative on 2012 Ballot

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 would allow private adult possession; establish a licensing system for production and sales; and raise millions of dollars in tax revenue

JULY 7, 2011 – DENVER – A broad coalition of organizations and activists launched a campaign today in support of a 2012 statewide ballot initiative that would end marijuana prohibition in Colorado and establish a system in which the substance is regulated and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol.  The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has received approval of its initiative language and will begin collecting signatures Friday to qualify the measure for next year's ballot.  

"Voters in Colorado are ready to end marijuana prohibition and begin regulating and taxing it in a manner similar to alcohol," said attorney Brian Vicente, one of the initiative's two formal proponents. "By regulating and taxing marijuana like alcohol Colorado can tightly control its production and sale, generate tens of millions of dollars in new tax revenue, and redirect our limited law enforcement resources toward serious crimes."

In summary, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012:

• removes criminal penalties for the private possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, and for the home-growing of up to six marijuana plants in an enclosed locked space., similar to the number allowed under current medical marijuana laws;

• directs the Department of Revenue to establish a tightly regulated system through which it licenses retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities, and testing facilities;

• requires the general assembly to enact an excise tax of up to 15 percent on the wholesale sale of marijuana applied at the point of transfer from the cultivation facility to a retail store or product manufacturer (sales tax will also be applied at the point of retail sales); and

• directs the general assembly to establish a system of regulating the cultivation, processing, and sale of industrial hemp.

The initiative does not change existing laws regarding driving under the influence of marijuana, or the ability of employers to maintain their current employment policies.  It also preserves the rights of localities to ban marijuana establishments through either their elected representative bodies, or through referred or citizen-initiated ballot measures.

"This will be a high-energy, volunteer-powered grassroots campaign," said initiative proponent Mason Tvert.  "We're excited to begin petitioning and speaking to voters one-on-one about the benefits of repealing the wasteful prohibition of marijuana and replacing it with a tightly controlled system in which it is regulated and taxed like alcohol."

Initiative proponents have 180 days to collect the approximately 86,000 signatures of registered Colorado voters necessary to qualify the measure for the 2012 ballot.

For more information on the campaign visit: http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/

The full text of the initiative is available at: http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/s/regulate-marijuana-alcohol-act-2012

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