Opponents of legalizing marijuana focus on risk to teens

Opponents of legalizing marijuana in three western states are targeting mothers in a fight over ballot measures that for the first time could make recreational pot use legal in parts of the United States.

"If people tell you it's not a gateway drug - it's baloney," Colorado state Representative Kathleen Conti, a Republican, told two dozen parents and local residents at a recent meeting in the Denver suburb of Greenwood Village.

Conti described her own son's descent from pot smoking to heroin use at the get-together at a spacious private house, where listeners sat on dining room chairs in neat rows and munched on snacks, and organizers laid out pamphlets with titles such as "Put Colorado's Kids First."

Grassroots meetings are the main tool for groups seeking to defeat pot legalization in Washington state, Oregon and Colorado. With polls showing public support for legal pot and backers of the measures donating millions of dollars to the cause, opponents are struggling to connect with voters.

No U.S. state has approved legal recreational use of marijuana, although 17 states have legalized pot use for medical reasons.

Measures on the November 6 ballot in Washington state, Colorado and Oregon would allow sales of pot to those 21 and over at special stores regulated and taxed by the state.

A Colorado group leading the anti-legalization campaign there has raised less than $200,000 this year, according to campaign records. That is the most of any organization in the three states seeking to defeat the pot measures.

Roger Sherman, the Colorado group's campaign director, says he does not expect to buy air time on major media, and will rely instead on small meetings to get out the group's message.

Should marijuana be legalized for recreational use by adults? That is the question that voters in three states are considering this November. Colorado, Washington and Oregon all have ballot measures that, if passed, would end marijuana prohibition in their state.

Colorado's Amendment 64 which seeks the legalization of marijuana for adults age 21 and older appears to be popular among voters. A recent poll from Rasmussen showed that 61 percent of likely Colorado voters are in favor of legalizing marijuana if it is regulated the way that alcohol and cigarettes are currently regulated.

According to a new report by the Colorado Center on Law & Policy, the passage of Amendment 64 could be a boon for the state economy. Marijuana legalization would produce hundreds of new jobs, raise millions for the construction of Colorado public schools and raise around $60 million annually in combined savings and revenue for Colorado's budget, the report says.

But it's not just marijuana use advocates that are behind the measure. The NAACP has backed pot legalization measures in Oregon and, as of last week, in Colorado not because the group necessarily favors marijuana use, but because members say current marijuana laws lead to a disproportionately high number of people of color being incarcerated or otherwise negatively affected.