Denver City Council is one step closer to making it illegal to smoke marijuana on private property like front porches, balconies or yards if smokers would be visible from any street or public sidewalk.
If passed on final reading on Dec. 2, violations of the ordinance would be punishable with a ticket, not an arrest. And Denver Police have said sniffing out potheads on their own porches would be given the lowest possible priority for its officers.
But marijuana advocates are incensed, claiming that the restrictions would violate Amendment 64, the state law passed by voters in 2012 that legalized marijuana use and possession for adults and which required the state to regulate it in the same manner as alcohol.
“The hypocrisy of this ordinance is stunning,” said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, in a statement. “Any council member who supports it should explain why they believe it is okay for them to use alcohol on their porches — or even cigarettes — but it should be a crime for me to use a far less harmful substance on mine. How many times do Denver voters need to tell them to stop looking for ways to punish adults for using marijuana?”
To illustrate the point, Tvert held a press conference yesterday on his own sidewalk-facing balcony, where he displayed several 12-packs of beer and a few fifths of hard liquor, taking shots and fielding questions from reporters.
Much of the debate by the Denver City Council revolved around the definition of “in public,” where consumption of marijuana is specifically prohibited in the amendment. For Tvert and others, private property is not public, whether or not it can be seen from a public place.
The original proposal would have criminalized just the smell of marijuana in public, meaning that pot smokers could be cited for allowing their smoke to waft out an open window. Advocates for the current version of the proposal say it’s necessary to protect Denver’s image and to keep it out of the view of children.
“The council has an obligation to protect the health and welfare of all the citizens of Denver,” ban supporter Suvi Miller told the council during public comment. “This is not just a property rights issue.”
The public smoking ban is just the latest of the historic decisions people in Colorado face when it comes to regulating marijuana, which is illegal under federal law.
“It’s extremely challenging and we don’t know the perfect balance,” City Council member Jeanne Robb told Denver’s 9News.
But Tvert said voters made their opinions clear during the historic vote to legalize.
“The voters made it clear they think marijuana should be treated like alcohol, and adults should be able to use it responsibly,” he told the Denver magazine Westword. “And there’s no compelling reason to prohibit adults from using marijuana outside on their own private balconies and porches.”
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