In recent weeks, anti-marijuana advocates have been pushing polls they say show a majority of people in Colorado and beyond are cooling on cannabis legalization. But Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project and a primary proponent for Amendment 64, which legalized limited pot sales in Colorado, doesn’t see a new groundswell of opposition.
the results of a recent Colorado-centric poll performed under the auspices of Suffolk University were synopsized like so:
Colorado voters may be having second thoughts about the legalization of marijuana. A slight majority of voters (50.2 percent) say they do not agree with the decision to legalize recreational marijuana in that state — a decision made by voters in 2012 — while 46 percent continue to support the decision. Nearly 49 percent do not approve of how the state is managing legalized pot, compared to 42 percent who approve.
The findings were ballyhooed by Bob Doyle, chairman of Colorado SAM, an affiliate of Project SAM, a national group that opposes the greater availability of marijuana. In a statement, Doyle said, “We have always believed that when voters were given the facts about marijuana, the marijuana industry, and the failings of commercialization, they would oppose legalization. It is unfortunate Colorado has been the lab rat of the marijuana industry, but we’re confident legalization will only be temporary as opposition to legalization grows and our education of people across the state increases.”
It’s a characterization that Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project flat-out denies.
More at the Denver Westword.