Hundreds of excited people
lined up in Denver's Civic Center
Park on Monday to get a free
joint, as part of a protest against
Colorado's plan to heavily tax
recreational marijuana.
The protest was courtesy of the
No On Proposition AA campaign, which opposes a plan calling for a 10 percent
sales tax on recreational cannabis with the option of going as high as 15
percent (with an additional 15 percent excise tax), reports CBS Denver .
According to spokesman Robert Corry, an attorney who represents clients in the
medical marijuana business, state leaders are backing a plan that over-taxes
cannabis sales, and that's not what voters approved when they passed
Amendment 64 last November.
"We have one of the leading alcohol industries in the world here in our state
with less than a one percent tax," Corry said. "That's what the marijuana tax
ought to be. That's what we support."
Supporters of Proposition AA, including Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown,
claim the money is necessary for "proper regulation" of cannabis.
"We will all be affected by this industry and we need to be ready for it --
administratively, from the police perspective and from a public health
perspective, and that's what we need this money for," Brown claimed.
Police were closely watching those gathered for the anti-tax protest rally at
midday on Monday. People were asked by rally organizers to provide an ID to
prove they were 21 or older before they could get one of the free joints.
A CBS4 crew in the park saw no arrests and witnessed numerous people openly
smoking marijuana. Under Colorado's new legalization law, public cannabis
consumption is still illegal, and users must be at least 21.
