Sen. Vicki Marble, Marijuana, and Public Assistance: Expliqué

Sen. Vicki Marble (R).

As Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post explains, we've got it all wrong about Sen. Vicki Marble and Senate Bill 14-037, the bill to stop public assistance cards for food stamps, etc. from being used at Colorado marijuana stores:

It had the makings of must-read story: a Republican lawmaker believes a faux news report that Colorado's pot shops are accepting food stamps and introduces a bill to outlaw the practice.

Only here's the catch:

The satire was written after Colorado marijuana dispensaries opened for business on Jan. 1. Sen. Vicki Marble of Fort Collins began working on her bill in August.

She produced an e-mail dated Sept. 4 from one of the legislature's attorneys, who was writing her bill.

After the Douglas County Republican Party helped spread the spoof story that food stamp funds were being used to buy marijuana, the introduction of Senate Bill 14-037 by Sen. Marble and a pack of Republican House members was pretty much guaranteed to provoke a round of gut-busting laughter from Democrats. The possibility, and as it turns out fact, that the legislation was authored well before spoof "news" sites began fictionalizing the consequences of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado had occurred to us. It was our understanding that adult dance clubs were already barred from accepting public assistance cards, but apparently Sen. Marble's bill addresses that as well.

As we've previously explained, federal food stamp funds can only be used to buy specific food products from approved retailers. Other assistance funds, however, like Social Security disability payments, can hypothetically be used anywhere as cash, which has led to legislation in Colorado restricting their use at liquor stores and casinos. In 2012, President Barack Obama signed federal legislation requiring all states to restrict the use of cash fund cards at "casinos, liquor stores, and retail establishments which provide adult-oriented entertainment" or face penalties. Obviously, marijuana isn't included in that list as it's already illegal under federal law.

In short, Sen. Vicki Marble, the Republican who gave the world "chicken-gate" just last year, wants to reassure the public that she came up with this legislation on her own–and not, as you may have been led to believe, as a product of a fake news story. And as it turns out, though it bears a comedic resemblance to said fake news story, her bill may not be quite as wacky as first thought–even though Marble’s motivations for leading this particular charge, in light of her history, can certainly be debated. In any event, we are obliged and pleased to correct the record.

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A Few Words About Morse and Marijuana

The Colorado Springs Gazette's editorial page blared a nasty headline yesterday targeting liberal support for Senate President John Morse, perfectly timed with robocalls going out to Democrats in Senate District 11:

It's a safe bet many of the students who rallied for Morse last week would also rally for more marijuana rights. That's not to pass judgment on Colorado College. It's just a young, liberal college thing to advocate marijuana freedom.

Morse claims to favor legalization, but advocates of that cause do not favor authoritarian Morse.

Don't ask us. Ask the Marijuana Policy Project, the country's largest and best-funded organization working toward legalization of pot. The organization feels so threatened by Morse – a purported advocate of their cause – they named him this year's worst legislator in the United States…

If Morse could tax the air we breathe, he probably would. So at the end of the last legislative session, he co-sponsored a bill that would have suspended Colorado's Amendment 64, the law that legalizes marijuana, unless voters approve a giant tax increase on pot.

Our readers will recall coverage of the resolution in question here, which had the shortest lifespan of any legislation we can remember–about three hours from introduction to demise as alarmed marijuana activists descended on the capitol. That has apparently (we didn't actually know this) led the Marijuana Policy Project, a respected pro-legalization thinktank, to label Morse "the worst legislator in the United States."

The robocalls hitting Democrats in Senate District 11 cite the MPP, but are paid for by a group linked to longtime GOP operative Patrick Davis, former National Republican Senatorial Committee political director–and who we can assure liberal Democrats has no interest in legalizing marijuana. A larger problem is that both MPP and the robocalls are flat wrong about that bill's purpose. Senate Concurrent Resolution 003 would not have "resulted in the repeal of a voter-approved initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol." None of the provisions legalizing personal possession and use of marijuana would have been affected. The resolution would have tied the opening of retail marijuana stores to the approval of the marijuana tax initiative headed for the ballot this November. As long as the tax initiative passed, the stores would be allowed to open. If not, well, they'd need to try again.

As we've said over and over about Amendment 64, the revenue opportunity is one of the big reasons pot is now legal. We believe it was a big part of motivating voters who were otherwise ambivalent about legalization.

Senator Morse said after the bill died that he introduced it to "get the attention" of the marijuana industry, which has been noncommittal to outright opposed to the tax initiative. The problem is that Amendment 64 was indeed not written in compliance with TABOR, which means the tax provisions built into the amendment are invalid–that's why the second initiative is necessary. Morse, simply put, was concerned about bad faith.

Those are the facts of what happened. We recognize that there are some who will read all of it and still disagree with Morse's short-lived proposal, and that's fine. The facts of this are not nearly what they're being represented to be by either pro-legalization advocates or opportunistic Republicans. And we think a full airing of the true facts would leave a lot of Democrats backing Morse–including plenty of pot smokers.

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Confirmed: DOJ Will Not Stop Marijuana Legalization

UPDATE #2: A statement from Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder, a leading advocate for marijuana legalization in Congress:

“I am thrilled that Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice are allowing Colorado and Washington to regulate their own state laws regarding recreational and medicinal marijuana. This is a big step in allowing small businesses to grow and succeed while following state and federal laws. I am hopeful that other states may see marijuana regulation as an opportunity to reduce crime, combat drug abuse, and enhance economic opportunity.”

"I fully support the eight priorities outlined by Attorney General Holder including prosecution for marijuana distribution to minors and protecting motorists from drugged drivers. This new, sensible, approach by the federal government will make all of us safer and respect the rights of states to determine how best to regulate marijuana within their borders."

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UPDATE: Gov. John Hickenlooper issues a statement:

“We recognize how difficult this issue has been for the Department of Justice and we appreciate the thoughtful approach it has taken. Amendment 64 put Colorado in conflict with federal law. Today’s announcement shows the federal government is respecting the will of Colorado voters. [Pols emphasis]

“We share with the federal government its priorities going forward. We are working to improve education and prevention efforts directed at young people and on enforcement tools to prevent access to marijuana by those under 21 years of age. We are also determined to keep marijuana businesses from being fronts for criminal enterprises or other illegal activity, and we are committed to preventing the exportation of marijuana out of Colorado while also enhancing efforts to keep state roads safer from impaired drivers.”

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Confirming word from Colorado Sen. Pat Steadman last week, FOX 31's Eli Stokols reports today:

The Justice Department will not seek to block the implementation of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington as long as the industry abides by state regulations, the Denver Post and Associated Press were first to report Thursday.

The Post, citing unnamed sources in Washington D.C., reports that a guidance will be issued to federal prosecutors in states with looser marijuana laws, marking a sweeping shift in the country’s marijuana policy.

AP's story:

In a sweeping policy announcement, the Justice Department outlined eight top priority areas for its enforcement of marijuana laws.

They range from preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors to preventing sales revenue from going to criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels and preventing the diversion of marijuana outside of states where it is legal under state law.

Sen. Steadman was right, and perhaps Rep. Jared Polis will be able to reconcile with Attorney General Eric Holder after this decision. This could be one of the final barriers to marijuana's general retail availability (and taxability) in Colorado beginning next January. Reason to believe the federal government will allow the provisions of Amendment 64 to fully take effect should also help pass the marijuana tax initiative set to appear on this year's ballot, giving Colorado's majority non-potsmokers a stake in legalization.

Given the federal government's age-old refusal to budge on the so-called "war on drugs," this is a pretty big deal.

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Denver City Council Deciding on Marijuana Measures

As The Denver Post reports:

Denver is all in, but city lawmakers are finding that setting up the nation's first legal marijuana market is not so simple…

…On Monday, the Amendment 64 committee meets for three hours, making decisions about 39 rules and regulations for the new industry, ranging from zoning buffers to hours to fees.

Later in the day, the full council takes up a discussion about whether to put a proposed 5 percent sales tax on pot sales on the November ballot.

While Denver is not alone in dealing with local marijuana regulations, many other municipalities have been taking a wait-and-see approach. Whatever Denver decides could end up being the basis of how sales and distribution regulations are handled throughout the state.

View the original article here