Marijuana Legalization to Become History at CSU

Since the passage of Amendment 64 in November 2012, Colorado has been in the forefront of regulating the use of marijuana, both for medical and for recreational purposes – and Colorado State University’s library archive has begun collecting materials related to this historic event.

“The Amendment 64 Collection is focused on gathering text-based materials, photographs, ephemera, film and audio interviews documenting various aspects related to the passage of legislation regarding recreational marijuana and its socio-economic impact,” says Janet Bishop, associate professor and coordinator for Archives and Special Collections at CSU Libraries. “We are interested in materials related to production, regulation, media coverage, business, tourism, public and scholarly opinions — both pro and con — as well as medical and social justice issues.”

The Amendment 64 Collection will also document agricultural and scholarly research related to marijuana and hemp. “While our focus is on Colorado, we anticipate that there will be a national and international element to some of our documentation, given the public curiosity about this topic and media coverage after the passage of Amendment 64,” Bishop adds.

“While there are certainly divided opinions on the issue in Colorado and nationally, as the state’s land-grant university, it is our responsibility to provide insights and information on pressing issues facing society, and we believe this collection can assist in that important role and work,” says Patrick Burns, dean of CSU Libraries.

The Amendment 64 Collection will be include oral histories from people directly involved in the political process that led to the legislation, as well as individuals associated with various aspects of the industry. “In addition to documenting a milestone event in our state’s history, we also believe this collection will augment our existing Agricultural and Natural Resources Archive,“ Burns explains “As with our other collections, our mission is to preserve primary source materials that have long-term cultural, research and instructional value.”

What do you think CSU should add to its collection? E-mail your ideas to [email protected].