Referenda

Amendment 64-like proposal may be heading north to Alaska

Could Alaska be the next state to legalize and regulate small amounts of cannabis for personal use? Supporters in Juneau think so. The process has begun to gather signatures for a ballot measure that would legalize up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use, allow for home cultivation and set up ... More >>

In honor of 4/20, marijuana activist Mason Tvert discusses the future of pot

See also: Pot critic William Breathes answers your cannabis queries in a special 4/20 edition

Proposition 8 ruling: Could it make legislatures gun shy about civil unions?

Our post about the 9th Circuit Court declaring Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban, unconstitutional, focused on the Colorado case that spelled doom for the state's anti-gay Amendment 2 circa the '90s. But could this ruling cause problems for measures like the civil unions bill progressing ... More >>

Proposition 8 ruling: Did Colorado's anti-gay Amendment 2 sow seeds for legal gay marriage?

Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declared unconstitutional California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. But the ruling, on view below, has a distinctly local flavor, since the jurists' argument is largely based on the U.S. Supreme Court's precedent-setting reje ... More >>

Marijuana activists ask John Suthers to take ethics pledge after Dan Hartman criticism

John Suthers.​At noon today, Mason Tvert and other Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act backers will stage an event at Attorney General John Suthers's office. Why? Suthers feels a letter by (outgoing?) Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division head Dan Hartman published in places mulling MMJ retai ... More >>

Marijuana legalization: Legalize 2012 objects to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act name

Tvert & Vicente.​The firestorm of invective at the Great Legalization Debate suggested that parties behind competing marijuana-reform measures for the 2012 ballot might not be exactly rooting for each other. More evidence: Legalize2012.com has created a guideline for reporters that objects to ... More >>

Marijuana legalization ballot measures language not likely to change much

​Today, eight proposed 2012 marijuana legalization ballot measures were considered by the Colorado Office of Legislative and Legal Services. However, few changes were made and little was said by the initiatives' backers.

Colorado Ethics Watch wins Clear the Bench case, but still may have to pay some legal fees

Luis Toro.​There's a strange, split resolution in the political pissing match between Colorado Ethics Watch and Clear the Bench Colorado, which aims to throw the bums off the state's supreme court. Administrative Law Judge Robert Spencer has ruled in CEW's favor. But the organization still owe ... More >>

Amendments 60 & 61, Proposition 101: Colorado Progressive Coalition hits road to battle them

​Twentieth century French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was keen on constructing impenetrable monoliths of text about nothingness. But his notion that the absence of something is just as important to an experience as the presence of something ties directly into this year's Colorado ballot init ... More >>

Tom Tancredo has a new running mate -- Pat Miller, not Michelle Malkin

From the cover of Pat Miller's latest book.​Just in the nick of time, Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo has a new running mate on the American Constitution Party ticket. And no, it's not Michelle Malkin. Former state representative and author Pat Miller will be Tancredo's lieutenan ... More >>

Prop 8 overruling in California feels like Romer v. Evans, says state Senator Pat Steadman

Pat Steadman.​Colorado state Senator Pat Steadman on Wednesday, commenting on the decision by a federal judge to overturn California's Proposition 8, said it's a lot like fourteen years ago. Fourteen years ago being May 20, 1996, when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling came down against Colorado's A ... More >>

Mike Jones on why priests (and ministers like Ted Haggard) hire male prostitutes

Mike Jones.​While Ted Haggard has moved on to his second act as the founding minister of St. James, his new church in Colorado Springs, Mike Jones, the male escort who outed the meth- and male-seeking New Life preacher in the fall of 2006, is still working off the same script. Jones weighs in ... More >>

Signed, sealed and rejected: These political activists are rabble with a cause

Medical marijuana good for Colorado Springs? "Yes," says mayor -- and so is a TABOR time-out

Lionel Rivera.​Lionel Rivera, the Republican mayor of Colorado Springs, says his city has a chance to resurrect itself from pummeling budget cuts brought on by the recession and the state's tax law that limits the city's ability to fund its coffers. The medical marijuana industry boon, among ... More >>

Mason Tvert on Fort Lewis College approving a marijuana initiative -- and what it means for legalization

These days, Mason Tvert is a big man on campus.​After an attempt to decriminalize statewide the adult possession of an ounce or less of marijuana failed at the polls in 2006, Mason Tvert, executive director of the drug policy reform organization Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFE ... More >>

How Colorado cooled the controversy between the Humane Society and big agriculture

Mason Tvert touts marijuana-is-better-than-alcohol rallies at eighty-plus colleges nationwide

Mason Tvert prefers Emerald to Amethyst.​For indefatigable marijuana booster Mason Tvert, founder of the advocacy organization Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), April 1 is a very big day. Rallies are scheduled to take place at more than eighty colleges and universities across ... More >>

Jon Caldara isn't resting on health care even after Scott Brown's win

Jon Caldara would have looked like this had Scott Brown lost.​Yesterday, the Independence Institute's Jon Caldara was among the driving forces behind a large gathering at the state capitol in favor of opting out of any federal health care plan, either via legislation or a ballot measure. Then, ... More >>

Following the money in Colorado politics

FollowTheMoney.org, a website associated with the Montana-based National Institute on Money in State Politics, tracks spending on campaigns across the country, and the data on Colorado confirms that agenda-driven greenbacks flooded the state last year at an unprecedented rate. Here are some bullet ... More >>

It's almost 4/20 -- and here comes Mason Tvert

A Flickr photoMason Tvert hasn't turned narc. He's seen wearing a Halloween costume. April 20 isn't only the anniversary of the killings at Columbine High School. It's also 4/20, a national celebration of cannabis culture -- something long supported by Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER (Safe ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: The sky's the limit for Jeff Peckman

When John Hickenlooper was a favorite to take Ken Salazar's Senate slot, local politicos slobbered over the idea of a winner-take-all race for the Denver mayor's seat in May. But Michael Bennet's appointment to the Senate ended that game of musical chairs, and now the last outstanding issue that mig ... More >>

Are unions gunning for Ryan Frazier because of his Amendment 47?

Has the other shoe finally dropped for up-and-coming Republican Ryan Frazier? The Aurora city councilman made headlines - as well as enemies - for sponsoring the controversial "right to work" ballot measure Amendment 47 this past November, and even though it lost at the polls, unions, many of which ... More >>

Another point of view about the Cinemark/Milk boycott

The December 1 blog "Boulder's Milk Boycott Missing One Thing: Milk" tells of a protest against the Cinemark movie-theater chain, whose head man, Alan Stock, donated $9,999 to the California campaign to outlaw gay marriage. Locals activists inspired by a campaign headquartered on the web at NoMILKfo ... More >>

Going through election withdrawal? How 'bout a protest?

California's Proposition 8 outlaws scenes like this. I don't know about you, but I had a distinct bittersweet taste in my mouth on November 5. Sweet for obvious reasons; the bitter came from the passing of Proposition 8 in California. I thought it was a damn shame that just as our nation seems t ... More >>

The gay cabelleros ride again!

Instead of countering the Denver Post's Obama endorsement, the Rocky Mountain News doesn't offer one

The Tiger Lovers behind Ryan Frazier’s Right to Work Crusade

Colorado ballot becomes NPR punchline

Another sexy deal from Dan Savage

The week ahead: Energy discussions and lots of hot air

Worst-Case Scenario: Amendmentos -- a spoonful of sugar makes the ballot issues go down

Bob Briggs Is Off the Train

Slants

A think tank levels a bias accusation.

Clowns to the Left of Me

Marc Holtzman's got a feeling that something in the Grand Old Party ain't right.

Take Your Best Shot

Throwing a few back for Katrina relief.

Off Limits

Hick of the Litter

Going to Pot

Smoke and mirrors at CU.

The Alternative Voter’s Guide

The Legislative Council’s ballot-analysis booklet has inspired so many fights, it should be called the black-and-blue book. Here’s our cure.

Brave News World

Feeding the daily dinosaurs.

Against the Odds

Referendum E is a sucker bet, but the state's hooked on lottery games.

One More Time Around

Tired of traveling in circles, Boulder residents head straight for the voters.

Road Warriors

Boon or boondoggle, Bill Owens's highway plan has to get past Douglas Bruce before it goes anywhere.

Little Grouse on the Prairie

Who Slugged the Sheriff?

Two Denver deputies square off in a political fight that gets physical.

That Fits the Bill

Need some special-interest legislation? Here's how this year's session measures up

THE NOVEMBER NUMBERS GAME