Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Saturday, June 09, 2007

Aspen Goes Up In Smoke

The NORML Conference starts in Aspen today. A lot of great people working towards a great cause.

Yes, people probably will smoke pot this weekend amid the Aspen legal seminar sponsored by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

But that is not allowed during the seminar - two days of serious talks on criminal defense issues including drugs, alcohol and terrorism.

"People are doing business," NORML founder and legal counsel Keith Stroup said. But he said, "There's probably a significant amount of marijuana smoking going on at social events."

Washington-based NORML has a trademark, annual legal seminar around December in Key West, Fla., but it plans to make Aspen its annual off-season summer seminar site.

This is the second year in a row the group has come to the mountain town, and the seminar features a bit of, ahem, experimentation this time: In addition to 43 attorneys, a record 41 pro-marijuana activists have signed up, Stroup said Friday.

The featured speaker Saturday is Tommy Chong, half of the humorous pot-smoking duo, Cheech and Chong, from the 1978 movie Up in Smoke. Chong was arrested in 2003 as part of a crackdown on drug paraphernalia sold over the Internet. He was sentenced to nine months in prison

Rocky Mountain News