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January 15, 2010 06:46 PM UTC

Peace Out, Potheads!

  • 22 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Put down your bongs and take a deep breath, as the Denver Post reports:

Three separate callers threatened to bomb Rep. Tom Massey’s home, set it aflame and picket out front after the Poncha Springs lawmaker revealed that he would carry a medical marijuana bill that could close down dispensaries.

Massey wasn’t at home when the calls came in starting Monday. He said his wife called the sheriff’s department, and surveillance has been set up at both his home and at the Capitol.

“My wife being there, she took it seriously,” Massey said. “I would have taken it with a grain of salt.”

He said he assumed the calls were from people tied to medical marijuana dispensaries. A bill that he has yet to introduce with Sen. Chris Romer would limit the number of patients on pot provider can serve to five…

Not only is it irrational and stupid to ever, ever threaten a lawmaker, but anything like this is doubly stupid for a supporter of medical marijuana: most people we’ve talked to seriously doubt that Massey’s restrictive bill, as written, will ever pass. We’ve heard that Sen. Chris Romer has promised to step in should amendments favorable to the nascent marijuana dispensary industry not be made (meaning the five-patient limit that would essentially kill the dispensaries)–this has been suggested to us as the reason he is co-sponsoring Massey’s hard-nosed bill, we’ll have to see. We will say that “The Guy Who Killed Medical Marijuana” would have a pretty hard time getting elected Mayor of Denver, so we think he’s on the level.

Regardless, probably the #1 sure-fire way to alienate everybody, including those who would otherwise be sympathetic, is to start threatening to “bomb houses.” We’ve been clear about our general support for Amendment 20, and favorability to the new dispensary industry as a sensible method of legal distribution–and a new tax base for the state. But we think we speak for a lot of influential people when we say that the slightest suggestion of violence is where our support ends: we would happily see every medical marijuana dispensary in Colorado shut down before any lawmaker made a decision under a cloud of intimidation. Whoever did this doesn’t know how lucky they are to be dealing with Rep. Massey, who has a reputation as one of the most even-keeled guys in the legislature–more than a few would have called in the Marines in a panic.

That’s our message for Rob Corry and Brian Vicente: we know you guys didn’t make these threats, but the onus is on you to put as much daylight as possible between the legitimate medical marijuana industry you’re trying to protect, and dumbasses who threaten lawmakers. This needs to be taken seriously and condemned internally, down to every last moronic-looking dopefiend (see Post photo here) on their email list: unequivocally, repeatedly. Politically, this is very dangerous stuff and plays directly into the hands of the law-and-order folks who want to shut the whole thing down–and Bill Ritter will sign such a bill if it reaches his desk.

We’ll close by noting those ridiculous gangsta dispensary ads in Westword aren’t helping either: if it upsets you to hear that, maybe you should consider yourself part of the problem. This isn’t about “free expression,” it’s about elementary public relations skills.

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22 thoughts on “Peace Out, Potheads!”

  2. Romer receives no such threats…

    AG shouters does not receive any such threats either.

    nor any other member of the legislature.

    Yet Poncha Springs in Chaffee county is ardently for marijuana prohibition. The Sheriff there has publicly said as much…

    I think the “Threats” were made by constituents to bring some level of Dramatic urgency to his bill to effectively end Medical Marijuana in Colorado.

    Additionally…

    TABOR is a Vote by the people and thus is sacred… Medical Marijuana is a vote by the people and needs to be curtailed??? conservatives are blatant Hypocrites.

    1. I don’t think the dispensaries should get shut down either, but your baseless charge is not helpful. There is no reason to suspect that it was a “false flag.”

      Massey is not a bad guy for a GOPer, we can and should keep this debate rational.

      1. Pull your head out of your a hole!  Even OBR (I’m speaking in third person here) thinks that this kind of shit crosses the line.  I don’t care which side of the aisle you sit on, you were elected to serve by a constituency, and you should feel safe to do the job they elected you to do.  

      2. the addresses and telephone numbers of Legislators are unlisted.

        ~cept to close friends, the police and the legislature itself. (to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the first place)

        yet Tom Massey is the ONLY one receiving these “threats”???

        I think it is blatant Bullshit.

        1. I would consider what you are saying and if it helps or hurts a cause you support.

          In the age of the internet even Justice Scalia found his personal information was not secure.

          1. A MMJ patients MO. Nor a Dispensary owners.

            it is a “reefer madness” attempt to link Medical Marijuana to “drug cartels” and how evil, desperate and interested they are in it’s legalization.

            when reality is, the drug cartel’s want it to be kept illegal to keep prices up.

            I Still maintain it is an attempt by conservatives to bring some dramatic urgency to additional legislation.

            while they are at it, How about curtailing TABOR too? (like that would happen)

            1. Rob Corry is not a nice man. In the 1990s, Corry was arrested for pointing a loaded firearm at a crowd of people in Washington DC. He claimed one of them had stolen his wallet.

              A few years ago, Corry was convicted of assaulting a female CU student, a plea down from the original sexual assault charge.

              http://m.rockymountainnews.com…

              I support medical marijuana and the dispensary model, but others who support it should think long and hard about who they have speaking for them.

              1. In fact I wish he wasn’t speaking on behalf of it.

                I am railing against the conservative’s!

                Pulling out all the bullshit stops! going yet again for the fear card. trying to curtail a constitutional amendment when Their constitutional amendment (TABOR) is so god damn sacred. (Yet TABOR has proven to undermine State effectiveness)

                these “threats” are bunk

            1. Some of the people you think of as “opposition” support your position, but you are creating an issue where one should not exist.

              There are only two options Rep. Massey didn’t receive threats or he did.  I’ll bet money he received threats.

              While many of MM supporters are reasonable people, if you have ever gone to a hearing there are a number who are not.  In fact if you ever attend a MM hearing and you do not smoke pot (myself), you come away believing more regulation is necessary. Few understand A20 did not legalize marijuana, but instead attempted to create a category similar to federal pharmaceutical drugs for MEDICAL purposes.

              Love it or hate it this is what the law says.  People who can not understand this and act like like they are at a Phish show at a hearing are unlikely to understand that threatening a politician is a bad idea.

            2. Because of the bill he is said to be sponsoring limiting MM dispensaries to 5 customers.  It seems like a pretty solid motive for the threats.  

              And no one has said that the opposition to the bill should shut up, at least I haven’t seen anyone here tell WLJ to shut up about it.  Just the opposite.

              What you should shut up about is the completely baseless accusations you are spouting.  No one else on this site thinks that this is “false flag” and everyone except for you are concerned about using the threat of violence to influence government.  To follow that path is madness.  But apparently you prefer the asylum.

  3. But for the most part, the dispensaries that will be here after natural selection works its magic are good hard working people that want to help.

    I feel like it was some dumb over activist type that has no real clue and thinks this is cool.  I am sorry those folks exist in our industry, because that is not the majority.

    Thanx for post and yes, we are working against any stupidity that stands in the way of positive conversation that will work to bridge the patients, the dispensary owners, the growers and the public.  From these conversations, I am confident we will find the right business model and the right regulation.

  4. …and Bill Ritter will sign such a bill if it reaches his desk.

    No doubt about it. After all, the bill was put together by the Governor’s office of legal counsel. Talk about your bipartisan prohibitionism.

    My prediction for Massey’s marijuana bill: killed in committee, somewhere along the way.

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