Colorado Passed Amendment 64, so What ‘s Next?

The questions are now in the minds of Coloradans and the nation about Amendment 64 and what happens next. Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey has said of Colorado's new addition to the state constitution, "You would have to believe that 100% of the people in this state that use marijuana will do so responsibly 100% of the time. That's an assumption that I remain very skeptical of."

That is an argument which is complete bullshit and my assumption is that Stan Hilkey knows that. His deputies deal with drunk assholes abusing alcohol all the time. You could easily replace the word 'marijuana' in his comment with 'alcohol' and get the same effect. Stan you'll never get everyone in society to be responsible 100% of the time, if that was the case you wouldn't have a job anymore.

The day after over half of Colorado voters said 'yes' to Amendment 64 Colorado Attorney General John Suthers claims he saw a woman sitting on a bench downtown Denver, Colorado smoking a doobie. He said, "I'm sure she woke up this morning and said, 'Hey marijuana is legal' as everybody was staring at her, she was giving this defiant stare back."

Marijuana for adults 21 or over in Colorado isn't officially legal, not yet. Just like Tom Petty says, the waiting is the hardest part. There will still be rules regarding recreational marijuana use by adults in Colorado, and consequences for not following them.

The Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler must still clarify the votes by December 6, 2012. After that Coloradans over 21 can possess one ounce for personal use, one ounce less that medical marijuana cardholders are allowed per the Colorado Constitution. In addition, just like most medical marijuana patients, Coloradans can grow up to six plants with three flowering at any given time.

The state attorney general has told the feds to figure out something with a quickness on what they will do about the forthcoming marijuana shops accessible by all Coloradan adults. The Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office said this yesterday, "The Department of Justice's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged. In enacting [the act] Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule 1 controlled substance. We are reviewing the ballot initiative and have no additional comment at this time."

That office is the one that has targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in the state that the feds feel are too close to schools. Those behind Amendment 64 don't seem too concerned with the federal government. They say, "The federal government's largely respected our state's highly regulated medical marijuana system. The only interference we've seen is with the letters. But we have hundreds of other (dispensaries) that have been operating in full public view, are tightly controlled and unproblematic. They've provided a lot of benefits in fact."

It's also worth noting the feds can't do much because they have no input on removal of a state's criminal penalties, which is basically what Amendment 64 does, removes the criminal aspect of recreational marijuana use by adults.

Regulations for the future marijuana shops that will cater to those who chose to smoke marijuana are supposed to be in place by July 1, 2013 with shops potentially opening in January 2014. State lawmakers also must enact a law regulating the future shops as well as deciding whether or not to add a 15% excise tax on the wholesale sales of cannabis.