Denver Campaign to Allow Cannabis Use at Bars and Clubs Withdraws Initiative Despite Submitting Enough Signatures to Make November Ballot
In a surprising and peculiar move, the Denver Campaign for Limited Social Cannabis Use has withdrawn their initiative to allow cannabis to be consumed at bars, clubs and any other adult-only venue. This is despite the fact that the group submitted over 10,000 signatures last month, more than double the 4,726 required to put the initiative to a vote this November.
“We’re not approaching the withdrawal of this initiative lightly,” says Mason Tvert, who’s been running the campaign alongside attorney Brian Vicente. “We were persuaded, however, by members of the political and business communities, who requested participation in this process.”
The group has decided to instead focus on efforts to lobby city lawmakers to pass an ordinance that would allow cannabis to be consumed at certain venues such as bars and/or cannabis social clubs.
Although the usefulness of lobbying elected officials can’t be denied, it’s hard to not be disappointed at the campaign’s decision to withdraw the initiative, especially considering that the group has been running a GoFundMe campaign – which has had over $18,000 donated to it – with the explicit goal of putting a social use initiative on this November’s ballot.
We hope that the group gives these donors the option of having their contributions returned, considering the group has decided to take a different approach than what they’ve been raising money for.
[Update: Unfortunately Mason Tvert has made it clear to us that the group will not be issuing refunds on donations.]
– TheJointBlog