The Craig Daily Press, 01 Nov 2012 – To the editor: We are law enforcement leaders in Moffat, Routt and Grand counties, and we wanted to express our concerns about Amendment 64, the effort to legalize "recreational" use of marijuana in Colorado.

The Daily Sentinel, 31 Oct 2012 – After spending several weekends in Denver this summer, I was disappointed to see the proliferation of so-called "medical" marijuana shops. On "60 Minutes," Steve Kroft reported that there are more pot shops in Denver than McDonalds and Starbucks combined. In January, the federal government required that all pot shops must be at least 1,000 feet from any school. Has anybody thought about the fact that kids don’t only hang out at schools? Most commercial streets are situated immediately in front of neighborhoods where, by the way, kids live and play.

The Daily Sentinel, 01 Nov 2012 – I was astonished to see an ex-cop from Denver do a pro-Amendment 64 ad on the basis that the "war on drugs doesn’t work." The fact is that the war on drugs will not go away just because the use of one illicit drug becomes a protected right. There will still be meth, cocaine, heroine and scores of designer narcotics, pharmaceuticals, off-the-shelf substances and unregulated pot that will come across the border and continue to spread in all parts of the country.

Colorado Springs Independent, 31 Oct 2012 – Recently, the Gazette published a letter, written by a precocious Classical Academy student, on why voters should reject Amendment 64. "As a senior in high school, I have seen the affects [sic] of marijuana firsthand," she wrote. "It is used as a pleasurable past time; a way to ‘feel relaxed and happy.’ This is all illegal of course." Now, everybody knows that happiness only brings a written warning. But the letter fed our curiosity: What in our state will change if voters Tuesday elect to make some of what’s "illegal," legal? If, specifically, they allow adults 21-plus to grow six plants, and possess up to an ounce of marijuana?

The Steamboat Today, 01 Nov 2012 – In response to the Steamboat Today’s editorial ("Vote no on Amendment 64," Oct. 9 Steamboat Today) and Roger Sherman’s letter to the editor ("Legalization not simple," Oct. 25 Steamboat Today) regarding Amendment 64, I would like to contest that it is, in fact, a simple civil rights issue of whether Coloradans feel they have a right to possess and consume cannabis. The admittedly failed federal War on Drugs is more than 40 years old and has run up a trillion-dollar tab that we are all paying for, as will generations after us. In this same 40-year period we have been deprived of the diverse capabilities of industrial hemp for no reason other than private vested interests.

The Aspen Times, 29 Oct 2012 – Local business owners ponder implications of Amendment 64 ASPEN — While Colorado voters mull the outright legalization of marijuana when they head to the polls next week, some local business owners are taking a particularly keen interest in the ramifications of Amendment 64.

The Daily Sentinel, 01 Nov 2012 – So you think marijuana can be controlled like alcohol? Hmmm. Let’s say I’m sitting on the couch next to my kids, having a beer. Unless those kids grab that beer and take a swig, the truth is that beer won’t affect them.

Summit Daily News, 30 Oct 2012 – Nuanced Measure Sparks Debates Over Law-Enforcement Resources, Cartels Locals from law enforcement to elected officials to marijuana business owners say they don’t know how to feel about a ballot measure asking voters to legalize limited amounts of cannabis and regulate the drug "like alcohol."

DrugSense

The Steamboat Today, 25 Oct 2012 – Legalizing the sale, possession and use of marijuana in Colorado by passing Amendment 64 is not simply a question of whether we think it’s appropriate for Coloradans to smoke pot. Amendment 64 raises serious questions about the proper role of our state constitution, the effect liberalizing our marijuana law will have beyond our state borders and whether we want to defy existing federal law. The U.S. Constitution, which many people consider the finest, most succinct legal document ever written, is distinguished by the limited number of issues that its 27 amendments address. They almost all deal with extremely important – foundational – issues. Colorado’s constitution, by contrast, has been amended more than 150 times for issues great and small.