Medical marijuana: Altitude Wellness Center puts its support of Doug Linkhart on the counter
Update below: Denver mayoral candidate Doug Linkhart has been embraced by the local MMJ community -- and earned a Teapot Party endorsement -- in part because of his pro-marijuana-legalization views.
Doug Linkhart.
But will this help him or hurt him in the long run? Altitude Wellness Center's support of Linkhart may offer a clue.
Political rivals have been talking about the pro-Linkhart bent of Altitude, claiming that staffers are giving out campaign postcards with every purchase. The implication? Despite the fact that MMJ community members are pouring money into his campaign coffers, many election pros are betting that the association will repel mainstream supporters Linkhart will need to be elected.
Meanwhile, the folks at Altitude, whose charity food drive and quest for a Coke machine was recently featured in this space, don't know what the fuss is about. We spoke to Roger, one of the owners -- he asks that his last name not be used -- and he openly admits that "we're pushing for him. We've got his stuff in here, we've got a sign up, we've even got a sign-up sheet to register voters. We help him however we can."
That doesn't mean a postcard is being handed to each customer, Roger maintains -- "but we'll ask people if they're registered to vote in Denver, or if they're Denver residents."
Regarding the reasons AWC digs Linkhart, Roger says, "He's more or less supporting medical marijuana businesses, and he wants to legalize marijuana. So why not get behind the man?"
So who's right about whether such backing will help or hurt Linkhart? The vote on May 3 should tell the tale.
Update, 3:16 p.m. March 30: A short time ago, we received an e-mail comment about this post from Amanda Snipes, communication director for the Linkhart campaign. Here it is:
Doug Linkhart's campaign conducts voter outreach efforts to over 80 constituent groups, including within the medical cannabis community. Doug supports this community because the people of Denver overwhelmingly cast their support for the industry when they voted to permit medical cannabis in our city. Since this vote, Doug has maintained his voice as an ally for preserving patient access to medicine and an advocate for fair treatment of this industry. The medical cannabis industry has provided Denver with 3-4,000 new jobs, over $3 million in tax revenue for the city, and $200 million in infrastructure investment. The people of Denver are smart, caring, and compassionate. As mayor, Doug will make our city as good as its people by working with our whole community and investing in people first.
More from our Politics archive: "Doug Linkhart tops Denver mayor ballot: Ten names appear, at least one contesting rejection."
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