Amendment 64, the amendment to the Colorado Constitution that legalizes marijuana, has some language in it that some people don’t seem to realize they voted for.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following acts are not unlawful and shall not be an offense under Colorado law… Consumption of marijuana, provided that nothing in this section shall permit consumption that is conducted openly and publicly or in a manner that endangers others.”
This language gives the Colorado state legislature, and municipal governments in Colorado, the right to prohibit open and public consumption of marijuana, and still be complying with the Constitution. It gives governments the right to regulate consumption of marijuana.
The Amendment also gives municipalities the right, under the Constitution, to “prohibit the operation of … retail marijuana stores through the enactment of an ordinance…” This gives governments the right to regulate the operations of marijuana businesses in their jurisdictions. Some have decided to prohibit retail marijuana businesses altogether.
Marijuana boosters called Denver Councilwoman Robb’s proposal to prohibit marijuana use on front lawns “unconstitutional.” They called Denver Councilwoman Ortega’s proposal to prohibit marijuana use on front lawns within 1,000 feet of schools “an attack on Amendment 64.” They mentioned “property rights” and “constitutional rights” as their reasons for demanding public marijuana use.
All property rights and all constitutional rights have limits; regulations apply to most of our rights. There are plenty of legal things that are not allowed in view of the public, even on private residential property. People are not allowed to urinate or to have sex on their front lawns. These activities are legal, and we are allowed to do them in private, but regulations prohibit us from doing these perfectly legal things within view of others.
Amendment 64 would not have passed without allowing the prohibition of public marijuana consumption, and without allowing the local control that municipalities have. Municipalities are well within their rights to exert that control. Denver City Council has let itself be bullied by the marijuana industry, into allowing things that some voters never imagined. Front lawn pot smoking is not what many Denverites thought they were voting for.
Here’s a link to Amendment 64: http://www.leg.state.co.us/LCS/Initiative%20Referendum/1112initrefr.nsf/c63bddd6b9678de787257799006bd391/cfa3bae60c8b4949872579c7006fa7ee/$FILE/Amendment%2064%20-%20Use%20&%20Regulation%20of%20Marijuana.pdf
Regulate It 