With a new year comes change, and Colorado is following suit by turning over a different kind of leaf.
On Jan. 1, Colorado became the first state to legally allow licensed pot shops to sell the drug. Many residents in Gainesville are supporting Colorado’s new law and participating in securing a similar future for Florida.
Morgan and Morgan law firm partner and marijuana advocate John Morgan said Colorado didn’t see any significant changes when the law passed.
“They legalized it, and the world didn’t end. There were no lightning bolts coming from the sky, and not one person got crazy on marijuana and robbed a bank,” said Morgan, chairman of United for Care, an organization sponsoring a petition to put medical marijuana legislation on the state ballot.
Though the petition still has to pass through the Supreme Court, Morgan said he’s confident about it.
“If it gets on the ballot, it’s going to pass,” he said. “Our attorney general is going to see she’s living in the Dark Ages.”
Representatives from United for Care have recently been visiting UF’s campus to collect signatures from supportive students.
One of those students is Alex Gimble, a 19-year-old UF political science sophomore who said he hopes to see Florida follow in Colorado’s footsteps.
“I definitely support it and think the way they implement it — in particular, the way the taxes go toward education — was done well,” he said. “I think there’s a timeline on it as things start to normalize. It’ll start to happen in stages, like most social changes, and eventually will be adopted across the country.”
Gimble said he thinks that those who don’t support legalizing marijuana are concerned about the industry becoming too large-scale.
The regulations permit residents older than 21 to purchase one ounce of marijuana every time they enter a pot shop and tourists of the same age to buy a quarter of an ounce, according to the Colorado legislation.
Kristen Burns, president of the student club National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML Gators, said the benefits of legalized marijuana are numerous.
“The crime rate will go down substantially,” she wrote in an email. “There will be a huge influx of tax money to help the economy, and people will have access to a drug that is safer and less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.”
Burns said she believes it could be legalized in Florida if those who are educated continue to spread their opinions.
“The issues lie in the misled people who perpetuate the myths surrounding marijuana use,” she said. “The ‘reefer madness’ mentality is still present in some older members of the community, so re-educating these people with correct information is crucial.”
Although some residents provide lists of positive aspects of legalization, others are opposed to the idea.
Ronald Akers, a UF professor in both the sociology and the criminology and law departments, said that new laws are often synonymous with unexpected repercussions.
The legalization in Colorado will be no different, he said.
“Any time you pass legislation … there’s going to be unintended consequences, and often, they are going to be negative,” he said. “I don’t know if it is intended. One consequence is almost certainly that there will be more marijuana use.”
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 1/14/2014 under the headline "Colorado marijuana law ignites discussion in Gainesville"
