Sep 20, 2006 5:17 pm US/Mountain
Opponents Take Aim At Marijuana Amendment
Prepared for the Web by CBS4 producer Raetta Holdman
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Local physicians joined Colorado's Lt. Governor Jane Norton and national drug policy experts on Wednesday to urge voters to defeat Amendment 44.
The amendment would make it legal for adults to possess small amounts of marijuana.
The group behind the statewide initiative pushed through a similar proposal in Denver.
The opponents of the amendment have started a grassroots campaign backed by anti-drug organizations like Save Our Society From Drugs, or SOS.
One concern raised by the group was how the amendment could affect Colorado's children and all of society, even those who do not use marijuana.
"It ... isn't good for the state to have your school bus drivers, your doctors and your nurses and your schoolteachers to have the legal right to use marijuana," said Calvina Fay, SOS Executive.
Norton joined the opponents in expressing concern about the impact passing the amendment could have on children.
She pointed what happened in Alaska when small amounts of marijuana was legalized. "What we saw was an increase of at least 50 percent of use among teenagers," said Norton.
"So when society says it's okay for adults there's somehow this repercussion that is a trickle-down with younger people," she said.
Proponents of Amendment 44 crticized the opponents for going out of state to get experts.
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