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.


Monday, April 13, 2009

Dispensary Opens On Loveland Main Street

The Denver Channel
It's not often that a medical marijuana shop opens on main street Colorado but it happened Friday in Loveland.Rich Present and Drew McNeil told 7NEWS they had planned to open their dispensary near a cancer treatment center close to the hospital, but a neighbor complained and the landlord backed out."The stereotype of medical marijuana is still out there," Present said. "We want to change that."So Present and McNeil kept looking and eventually found a new spot on Cleveland Avenue across from the Safeway store."

After we were turned down by a few other places in town, the man who owned the Circle Moon cafe came to the rescue with a wonderful building here," Present said. "It's just so relaxing. It has a great vibe."The dispensary, called Nature's Medicine, also offers massage, aromatherapy, acupuncture and a variety of herbs and supplements. Several people came to the shop Friday to register.

Among them was Kirk Scramstad, who told 7NEWS he suffers a great deal of pain."I have degenerative disks on my back," Scramstad said.When asked what the dispensary meant to him, it touched a raw emotion.His voice faltering, Scramstad said, "It's important to me because I'm sick and tired of being scared of the police and of gangsters coming to my house because I chose to grow marijuana."