January 7 Meeting

The January 7 meeting continued discussing how Greenwood Village would respond to Amendment 64 which legalizes the possession of up to 1 oz of marijuana. This time, the debate focused mostly on how to deal with transportation. Amendment 64 only legalizes possession, not necessarily buying, selling, or transporting marijuana. The Greenwood Village attorney and police department wrote Ordinance No. 43-12, which was the Greenwood Village municipal rules concerning possession of marijuana. In that ordinance, it says that possessing marijuana in public areas, buildings, trails, parks, etc is considered transportation and therefore illegal. The council members discussed whether they should be prohibiting transportation. One council member pointed out that the citizens of Colorado did vote fairly to allow marijuana and arresting someone for having it in their backpack or pocket is unfair. The debate returned to the idea of federal versus state law. One council member argued that since marijuana was illegal federally, the Greenwood Village police could restrict it as much as possible. The topics of health, safety, and welfare became key in the debate. Many council members opposed allowing any sort of transportation because marijuana could pose a societal threat. Some medical research indicates that marijuana is dangerous for health and is not like alcohol. They also pointed out that the citizens of Greenwood Village largely opposed Amendment 64, and so therefore acting on the beliefs of their constituents, the council should restrict marijuana use. Personally, I believe that it is confusing to constituents if local, municipal laws become completely different from state law. I think that the extra restriction and rules further complicate the issue, for both the citizens and for the police. I also believe that if transportation (even if in just a pocket or backpack) becomes punishable, it might compel people to start growing marijuana, which poses many more safety threats.