Tipping Point On Pot?

Legalization efforts get underway at KushCon II

Gene Davis, DDN Staff Writer

Monday, December 20, 2010

KUSHCON II — Magic Ellingston (aka: Henry Hemp) poses with Pot Bottles at KushCon II on Saturday. Photo by Charles Broshous.

The marijuana legalization movement will reach a tipping point in 2012 and Colorado is poised to help lead the way, according to the former governor of New Mexico and likely presidential candidate.

Gary Johnson, a two-term GOP governor who has reportedly been eyeing a presidential run in 2012, was a featured speaker at KushCon II, the marijuana festival that took place over the weekend at the Colorado Convention Center. Johnson used medical marijuana for three years while recovering from a serious paragliding accident and believes the war on drugs has been a waste of taxpayer money.

“I see this as two years away of being a tipping point where we recognize the war on drugs is a failure on A to Z fronts,” he told the Denver Daily News. “I oppose the war on drugs from A to Z.”

Meanwhile, pro-marijuana group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) used the KushCon II to officially kick off their campaign to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the 2012 Colorado ballot. Many people at the KushCon said Colorado has a good chance to be the first state to legalize marijuana for adults.

“We are starting to build the infrastructure for the largest legalization campaign this state has ever seen,” said Mason Tvert of SAFER. “It is going to be massive, it is going to be effective, it’s going to change the way the state handles marijuana for all adults.”

KushCon was billed by organizers as the largest cannabis convention in the world. The event at the Colorado Convention Center featured 340,000 square feet of marijuana-related booths and activities, eight bands and 450 vendors from eight countries across the world.

Full story in TheDenverDailyNews.com