Politics

Colorado Dem facing recall now getting slammed by pot legalizers

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Greg Campbell Contributor
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Colorado Senate President John Morse can’t get a break.

The Democrat is trying to fend off a recall election from the right for his support of tough new gun control laws and now he’s being attacked from the left for “topping the list of the most outrageous anti-marijuana legislators.”

The national advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project compiled the list, calling Morse the worst state legislator of 2013 for trying to slip through a last minute bill that would have repealed Colorado’s marijuana legalization law, Amendment 64, if voters didn’t approve a tax scheme at the ballot box in November.

He also has the added ignominious distinction of being one of only two Democrats on the list of eight.

“Many voters are fed up with elected officials who base public policy decisions on their antiquated beliefs about marijuana,” MPP communications director Mason Tvert wrote in an email to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We hope legislators will keep in mind that a couple hundred people not being excited to vote for you can make a big difference in a state election.”

It could certainly make a difference in a recall election as well. Both Morse and Sen. Angela Giron, also a Democrat, are fighting for their political lives in Colorado’s first ever recall elections, which will be held on Sept. 10. The two were targeted for their support of controversial new gun laws that went into effect in July.

Being called the worst anti-marijuana state legislator of the year may rankle some of the liberal Colorado Springs voters Morse needs to survive the recall. The city council recently voted to ban retail marijuana stores, even though a majority of voters in the city supported Amendment 64. Some have vowed to gather signatures in an effort to overturn the ban in an election.

In a press release, Tvert said Morse’s legislative maneuver, which ultimately failed, put him out of touch with his constituents.

“Sen. Morse’s sneaky, last-minute attempt to put a voter-approved initiative on the chopping block demonstrated he is not only tone-deaf to the facts about marijuana, but also to the majority of voters in Colorado Springs and the State of Colorado,” he said.

The other anti-pot legislators MPP single out are:

2. Idaho Republican Rep. Luke Malek, who said he thinks medical marijuana is a “farcical predatory scheme.”

3. Arizona Republican Rep. John Kavanagh, who said that “no medical authority” would agree that marijuana has legitimate medical benefits.

4. North Carolina Republican Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam, who MPP says killed a medical marijuana bill because he felt “harassed” by calls and emails he received about it.

5. Florida Democratic Rep. Darryl Rouson, who sponsored a bill banning the sale of pipes and bongs, which he called “utensils of death.”

6. Montana Republican Rep. David Howard, for calling marijuana a “poison” and “the most dangerous drug there is.”

7. Iowa Republican Rep. Clel Baudler, for his role in defeating a medical marijuana bill, saying it would be the “top one or two or three stupidest bills” to pass the legislature in more than 50 years.

8. New Hampshire Republican Rep. John Cebrowski, for voting against a medical marijuana bill because he “[did] not want to be part of the cultural and social disintegration” of New Hampshire.

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