Marijuana: Denver DA Mitch Morrissey to drop pot cases legal under Amendment 64
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| Judd Golden. |
But while he considers Amendment 64's passage to represent "an amazing transformation of public attitudes," he sees an awkward period ahead, given the large amount of confusion over what the measure actually does.
"The public needs to know that Amendment 64 didn't legalize all marijuana-related activities -- and if someone is publicly consuming marijuana, that's still an offense," he says. "Now, whether a charge of that nature would have much chance of being successfully prosecuted is another matter. It's hard to know if the public would appreciate the distinction between having a joint in your pocket or a lit joint in your hand, and I'd be surprised if convictions could be gotten very easily in the absence of aggravating circumstances. But even after Amendment 64 is signed, smoking marijuana in public will still be against the law in the same way that you can have a beer in your pocket but not drink it on the street corner."
Likewise, he goes on, "quantities of marijuana in excess of an ounce remain against the law. So, as with any new law or new constitutional amendment such as this, there's going to be a learning curve. There was a lot of misinformation on both sides that surrounded this campaign; we certainly heard a lot of horror stories about what would take place if this passed. I've been answering a lot of inquiries to dispel those concerns, but there still needs to be a public-education process, so people can understand and make sure they're complying with the law."
Continue to see Golden's November 14 letter to Boulder's City Attorney, followed by an addendum.
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