Marijuana: Great Legalization Debate quickly goes to pot (Westword)

Marijuana: Great Legalization Debate quickly goes to pot - Denver News - The Latest Word

*be sure to comment on Westword as well.*

If only Ron Paul and Barney Frank had introduced their federal marijuana-legalization proposal one day earlier, the Great Legalization Debate might have turned into a truly great discussion. Instead, last night's "debate" at Casselman's more closely resembled an episode of Family Feud -- which turned R-rated when Corey Donahue lit up a joint.
Family, because everyone on the stage at Casselman's agrees that marijuana should be legal. Feud, because none of them agree -- yet -- on the ideal way to go about making it legal in Colorado.

Along with Donahue, the other panelists included many familiar subjects and commenters on this blog; the Reverend Brandon Baker, Kathleen Chippi, Rico Colibri, Paul Danish, Mason Tvert and Laura Kriho, whose Legalize 2012 sponsored the event. All seven are considering some proposal to legalize -- or at least decriminalize -- marijuana in Colorado. Tvert's coalition has already filed its proposal with the state, an act that was the subject of much sniping from other panelists (and, in fact, Donahue had just filed an official complaint against it).

I was the moderator of the event, which quickly moved beyond moderate. I would have loved to hear what the panelists thought about Ron Pauls' proposal; instead, I heard a lot about George Soros (for the record, he has provided no funding for Tvert's effort). Members of the audience would have loved to hear the panelists' take on their very real problems finding medicine, finding jobs, finding legal help; instead, the time was taken up by attacks. Playing political consultant at the wrap-up, Paul Danish, a longtime activist who got a growth-control measure through in Boulder three decades ago, noted that the discussion last night would be enough to kill any move to legalize marijuana in Colorado.

Still, this was a family fight, and the family can come back together to present a relatively civil front, if not an entirely united one. Last night was a start, albeit a rocky one. I invite everyone who was in attendance -- or watching on the web -- to post comments below; I'd also like to publish anything the participants, particularly Tvert, would like to say about the "debate" and their proposal -- and I promise not to interrupt.

In the meantime, you can read William Breathes's preview of their proposals here. And remember, where there's smoke, there's ire.

this is so sad that everyone is fighting with each other when there should be a comming together to get this done with out in-house bickering....so sad...

Awesome. Good work. Did anyone attend? I'd like to know which of these activists were trying to have a debate and which were acting like spoiled brats.

It's shocking and disappointing that those who could hurt the legalization effort in 2012 the most are the outspoken individualists leading the charge.

Unity will be everything.

A single initiative with straight forward language. From what I here, Paul Danish presented himself best. His proposal is just a few unambiguous sentences.

they shouldn't be having 'debates'.

they should be raising money, filing actions, and getting ballot proposals up.

shut the fuck up and file :thumbsup:

All of those proposals are better than state-level prohibition, and I'd vote for any of them.

LOL @ the Soros stuff. The old Jewish banker bogeyman again! Among a certain brand of conspiracy nuts, it never goes out of style. I'm guessing those accusations came from Legalize2012 and the CTI camp. They're the ones who linked to the anti-Semitic Bilderberg hate site in the same press release that blasted Soros and Zimmerman as "out of state" interests. Ahhh those Jews: first they killed Christ, then they assassinated Princess Di and now they are coming for your ganja!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HighPopalorum

All of those proposals are better than state-level prohibition, and I'd vote for any of them.

LOL @ the Soros stuff. The old Jewish banker bogeyman again! Among a certain brand of conspiracy nuts, it never goes out of style. I'm guessing those accusations came from Legalize2012 and the CTI camp. They're the ones who linked to the anti-Semitic Bilderberg hate site in the same press release that blasted Soros and Zimmerman as "out of state" interests. Ahhh those Jews: first they killed Christ, then they assassinated Princess Di and now they are coming for your ganja!

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Personally I could give a rats ass if it becomes legal or not, the main reason I would support any type of legalization is to stop the government from trampling just about every right we have over a goddam plant. As long as there are limits placed such as an ounce then nothing will change. The cops will still use 'smell' as an excuse to bust doors down, search cars and take kids from parents. Not to mention no one should ever be locked in a cage over something so harmless.

hello. i saw nothing. i am grateful there is discussion. people bicker about a debate. putting truthful information out to the main public is important. every venue is another service towards informing the public, keeping the issue forward, and beneficial towards legalizing more medical cannabis states. regularity of cannabis news is helping the decriminalization process. Ron Paul already has my vote.