We are now less than 2 weeks away from election day, and the battle over the marijuana law reform measure Amendment 64 in Colorado is heating up even further with the mayor of Denver coming out in opposition to the measure. Mayor Michael Hancock is worried about his city being seen as a “marijuana capital.”

“I do firmly believe it’s a gateway drug. I also think it’s the wrong message we want to send our children that it’s okay for them to consume or use marijuana,” he said, adding, “We don’t want to be the first state in this nation that legalizes marijuana. I believe we will lose our attractiveness to companies, employers who want to come to our state. Tourism is the number-one industry for the City of Denver, number two in the state of Colorado, and I believe that sector will be disproportionately harmed with the perception that Denver is the marijuana capital.”

No matter what the Mayor firmly believes, the “gateway theory” has been thoroughly debunked, as we discussed yesterday. The rest of his opinion about cannabis rests in the false propaganda of the last 75 years, which has built a stigma around marijuana and its culture. Amsterdam is one of the most-visited cities in the world, in part because of its freedom surrounding marijuana.

Legalization is important for many reasons, and one of those reasons is the need to tear down the stigma attached to cannabis. A substance should be judged on facts, not propaganda.

- Joe Klare

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