T
The420Guy
Guest
The opponents of Amendment 20 have some impressive big guns on their side - the American
Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, law enforcement leaders.
But for now at least, proponents of legalizing marijuana for medical use have the voters on
their side.
A Denver Post/9News/KOA News Radio poll found that 67 percent of likely voters support
Amendment 20, while 28 percent oppose it.
"I'm very pleased," said Julie Roche, campaign director for Coloradans for Medical Rights
2000.
Spokespersons for the main group opposing the amendment, Coloradans Against Legalizing
Marijuana, could not be reached for comment.
Amendment 20 would create a registry of seriously ill patients who, with a physician's
approval, would be issued a card entitling them to use marijuana for medical purposes. The
amendment does not create a system for distributing marijuana to the patients.
Opponents say the effort to legalize medical marijuana is a first step toward legalizing the drug
overall; and they argue its medical effectiveness hasn't been proven and that legalizing it
would send the wrong message to youth.
A proposition to legalize medical marijuana was on the November 1998 ballot, too. But
because of a fight over whether signatures gathered to put the issue on the ballot were valid,
the votes - they called it Amendment 11 that time - were never counted. But exit polls
showed the amendment probably would have passed.
According to Roche, the exit-poll margins were about the same as the Denver Post poll
results, conducted late last month with 500 likely voters.
So far both sides have run a fairly low-key campaign.
A Web site operated by Coloradans Against Legalizing Marijuana is under construction - it
reportedly will include a letter from Gov. Bill Owens explaining why he's opposed to
legalizing medical marijuana.
Roche said her group's campaign has largely been a grassroots one up to now. They just
recently bought some television and radio time, Roche said.
MAP posted-by: Jo-D
Newshawk: Cannabis News - marijuana, hemp, and cannabis news
Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2000
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2000 The Denver Post
Contact: letters@denverpost.com
Address: 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
Fax: (303) 820.1502
Website: The Denver Post – Colorado breaking news, sports, business, weather, entertainment.
Forum: The Denver Post
Author: Karen Auge, Denver Post Medical Writer
Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, law enforcement leaders.
But for now at least, proponents of legalizing marijuana for medical use have the voters on
their side.
A Denver Post/9News/KOA News Radio poll found that 67 percent of likely voters support
Amendment 20, while 28 percent oppose it.
"I'm very pleased," said Julie Roche, campaign director for Coloradans for Medical Rights
2000.
Spokespersons for the main group opposing the amendment, Coloradans Against Legalizing
Marijuana, could not be reached for comment.
Amendment 20 would create a registry of seriously ill patients who, with a physician's
approval, would be issued a card entitling them to use marijuana for medical purposes. The
amendment does not create a system for distributing marijuana to the patients.
Opponents say the effort to legalize medical marijuana is a first step toward legalizing the drug
overall; and they argue its medical effectiveness hasn't been proven and that legalizing it
would send the wrong message to youth.
A proposition to legalize medical marijuana was on the November 1998 ballot, too. But
because of a fight over whether signatures gathered to put the issue on the ballot were valid,
the votes - they called it Amendment 11 that time - were never counted. But exit polls
showed the amendment probably would have passed.
According to Roche, the exit-poll margins were about the same as the Denver Post poll
results, conducted late last month with 500 likely voters.
So far both sides have run a fairly low-key campaign.
A Web site operated by Coloradans Against Legalizing Marijuana is under construction - it
reportedly will include a letter from Gov. Bill Owens explaining why he's opposed to
legalizing medical marijuana.
Roche said her group's campaign has largely been a grassroots one up to now. They just
recently bought some television and radio time, Roche said.
MAP posted-by: Jo-D
Newshawk: Cannabis News - marijuana, hemp, and cannabis news
Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2000
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2000 The Denver Post
Contact: letters@denverpost.com
Address: 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
Fax: (303) 820.1502
Website: The Denver Post – Colorado breaking news, sports, business, weather, entertainment.
Forum: The Denver Post
Author: Karen Auge, Denver Post Medical Writer
