Nederland Votes To Approve Removing Penalties For Marijuana

Colorado Connection
NEDERLAND, COLO. -- Voters in the town of Nederland voted on Tuesday and approved a ballot measure that removed all local penalties for private adult marijuana possession, making the mountain town the third Colorado locality to legalize marijuana in the past five years.  
Denver voters adopted a citizen-initiative to do so in November 2005, and voters in Breckenridge approved a similar measure in November 2009.
More than 54 percent of Nederland voters supported the measure in what Town Clerk Christi Icenogle said was a high turn-out election.  
Voters also ousted incumbent Mayor Martin Cheshes, who had vocally opposed the measure and referred to it as "foolish," replacing him with Trustee Sumaya Abu-Haidar. 
Prior to the announcement of the vote, the Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett told The Daily Camera: "I'll pay attention if it passes.  Marijuana enforcement is a sensitive issue, and it's important to gauge public sentiment.”
"It's time for Colorado's elected officials to recognize that many -- and in some cases most -- of their constituents support an end to marijuana prohibition," said SAFER Executive Mason Tvert.  "Those who fail to do so are the 'foolish' ones, and in some areas it could result in them losing votes.  
"Nederland is not the first Colorado locality to express its opinion that marijuana should be legal for adults, and it certainly won't be the last," Tvert continued.  "More and more Coloradans are beginning to recognize the fact that marijuana is far safer than alcohol for the user and for society, and it's only a matter of time before they decide to stand up against irrational laws that drive people to drink by prohibiting them from making the safer choice."
Durango, which voted largely in support of the statewide initiative to legalize marijuana in 2006, will likely to vote on a similar local marijuana legalization initiative this November.  
A recent poll of likely Colorado voters found that 50 percent now support making marijuana legal for adults and regulating it like alcohol.