Chris Romer: Why is he not accepting campaign donations from medical marijuana businesses?
Yesterday, Denver Post-endorsed mayoral candidate Chris Romer debuted a new ad during an event at Cake Crumbs Bakery. It portrays him as fighting for a small business against red tape; see it below.
Chris Romer.
However, Romer has decided not to take donations from folks in another type of biz -- the medical marijuana industry. Why?
Romer either sponsored or co-sponsored HB 1284, the main MMJ regulatory measure, and SB 109, which attempted to clarify the relationship between medical marijuana patients and doctors; former Governor Bill Ritter signed them in to law last June.
Along the way, however, Romer antagonized many medical marijuana advocates with blunt statements, including his prediction that regulation would result in 50 percent of all dispensaries closing.
Is the donation decision an attempt on Romer's part to distance himself from legislation that may unsettle more conservative voters -- and from an industry in which he remains a controversial figure?
Not at all, according to spokesman Zach Knaus. Via e-mail, he explains that "Chris was so involved in crafting the legislative compromise [that] we thought it would be cleaner to simply not accept contributions from that industry. We thought it was the right thing to do."
Look below to see Romer's latest ad.
More from our Marijuana archive: "Senator Chris Romer to medical marijuana community: 'There's nothing so keen to focus the mind as a bullet fired near your head.'"
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