"Health & Medical News"

Voters in Denver appear to have approved a ballot question that would require police to make enforcement of marijuana-possession laws their lowest priority, the Rocky Mountain News reported Nov. 7.

Question 100, backed by the group Safe Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), was being approved by a 5-to-4 margin, election observers said, although balloting was incomplete.

“The voters of Denver have made it very clear that they do not think our city’s limited law enforcement resources should be used to arrest and prosecute simply for possessing small amounts of marijuana,” said SAFER director Mason Tvert.

However, some city officials and police leaders cast the vote as meaningless. “Our city charter says neither the public nor the City Council can tell the police how to enforce the laws,” said Denver City Council President Michael Hancock.

Tvert said the Denver results “show there’s an attitude shift taking place in this city, and hopefully the state and the country.”

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