Stop federal encroachment on legal cannabis in Colorado

Colorado’s cannabis industry has generated more than $200 million annually for the state.  In addition, opiate-related deaths in states that hae legalized cannabis have fallen by 25 percent.

Still, the federal government in the form of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has decided that it will allow prosecutors to go after the cannabis industry and even users in states that have legalized it.

How are we going to protect what has contributed so much to Colorado?  Luckily, there are several steps we can take to safeguard our rights:

Cannabis is an issue that spans the political spectrum from progressives to libertarians.  We are all Coloradans, and we want to protect the right of our state to determine our own destiny.  We know what’s best for us, and now we have to fight for it.

Gabriel Thorn Candidate, state House District 5 Denver

‘It’s a voting booth, not a confessional’

Not since 1998 has the GOP chosen a nominee in a hotly contested primary for statewide office who went on to win the general.

Hold it, I don’t count the 2010 treasurer primary as “hotly”contested because Ament had no money. Yes, the race was close, but there wasn’t enough money spent to make it truly contested.  If JJ had any money, he likely would have won.  It was very close, after all.

We’ve only won one statewide contest since President Bush won Colorado in 2004 at the level where millions were spent and, in that one, the decks were effectively cleared for Gardner.

I’m saying that my party has a habit of picking poorly when we choose.  We chose the loser in 2004, twice in 2010, 2014 and 2016.

How about this time, we pick a person who can actually win the general election instead of the person who strikes us as the purest conservative?

I mean, after all, it’s a voting booth not a confessional.  This is about winning so you can govern, not cleansing your soul.

We have several candidates who might be able to win the general so we can govern, and pick cabinet members, and drive regulatory reform and rein in the legislature.  And we have at least one candidate who can’t possibly win.

God I hate the Raiders, but Al Davis got one thing right: “Just win, baby.”

Because it doesn’t matter how smart you are or how pure your values; if you don’t win, you won’t govern.

Greg BrophyFormer Colorado state senator, Senate District 1Wray

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