Sensible Colorado’s Brian Vicente was named Chairman of the Denver Mayor’s Marijuana Oversight Panel in early 2008.  This Panel is tasked with implementing Denver Ordinance 38-176 which states that “The Denver Police Department and the city attorney’s office shall make the investigation, arrest and prosecution of marijuana offenses, where the marijuana was intended for adult personal use, the city’s lowest law enforcement priority.”  This law was passed by 57% of Denver voters in November 2007.

(Photo credit Rocky Mountain News 2008)

2000:  Colorado passes Medical Marijuana law  

2005:  Denver becomes the first U.S. city to vote to remove all penalties for private adult marijuana possession.

2008:  Sensible Colorado and Safer join forces to embark on an even larger mission– bringing together citizens, organizations, and elected officials from around the state to work toward our shared goal of an alternative to marijuana prohibition.

Join our email list today to recieve alerts about this exciting new campaign.

“This is a victory for Denver voters and for supporters of marijuana reform throughout Colorado.”

—Brian Vicente, Executive Director

Sensible Colorado earned a great victory with the dismissal of all charges in the Initiative 100 “Test Case.” Sensible Colorado’s Executive Director, Brian Vicente, led the legal defense team of Eric Footer, a Denver resident and real estate consultant who was cited for possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of marijuana paraphernalia the day after I-100 went into effect. Denver voters approved I-100 in November by a 54-46 margin, making the private adult possession of less than an ounce of marijuana legal under city ordinances.

“This is a victory for Denver voters and for supporters of marijuana reform throughout Colorado” said Vicente. “In November, Denver citizens voted to stop arresting adults for responsible marijuana use, and today City officials have upheld the will of the voters. It is our hope that the dismissal of charges in this Test Case will send a message to the Denver police that they should cease arresting responsible adults who choose to use marijuana, and instead focus police resources on more serious crime.”

Read the Rocky Mountain News article.

On November 2, 2005, a historic day for marijuana reform, the majority of Colorado voters facing marijuana issues sent a strong message that reform is needed.

54% of Denver voters agreed: no city penalties for personal possession.

In Denver, voters passed I-100, an ordinance to abolish city penalties for the adult personal possession of marijuana, with 54% of voters approving the measure. Meanwhile, on the other side of the state, a measure to make adult personal possession of marijuana the lowest law enforcement priority, was narrowly defeated—by a mere 24 votes—by rural voters in Telluride.

Sensible Colorado provided support for these campaigns by training activists, building alliances, and activating reform voters.

“No longer can marijuana reform voters be referred to as a minority. This vote shows that at least half or more of Colorado voters are firm in their belief that the government’s war on marijuana is a failure” said Brian Vicente, Executive Director of Sensible Colorado.

Please see the medical marijuana portion of the Sensible Colorado website which addresses the wide variety of issues and problems faced by patients and caregivers in Colorado. This website also contains numerous legal resources including sample motions and briefs for use in patient/caregiver defense.

As part of this Campaign, Sensible Colorado is tracking pending medical marijuana criminal cases to determine trends and wage effective legal battles to secure access to this valuable medicine.
If you have had a law enforcement interaction, please let us know about it by calling Sensible Colorado at (720) 890-4247 or 1-800-418-3352 or via email at brian@sensiblecolorado.org.