It's day one for pot legalization backers gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment seeking to authorize pot for recreational use in Colorado.

Supporters need about 86,000 signatures to get the question on ballots next year. They start collecting signatures Thursday afternoon in Denver.

Proponents of an initiative that would make it legal to buy and possess up to an ounce of marijuana began gathering the first of some 86,000 signatures they'll need to get the measure on the 2012 ballot.

Attorney Brian Vicente and activist Mason Tvert outlined the "Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act" Thursday afternoon in Civic Center Park, which has become a hub of illegal drug deals and marijuana use in the city.

Read the entire story at: http://www.kdvr.com/news/politics/kdvr-petition-drive-begins-to-legalize...

A campaign to legalize small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use in Colorado is aimed at middle-aged, budget-conscious voters — not the pot smokers typically associated with such efforts.

Two marijuana legalization advocates started a signature drive Thursday to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that they say would regulate and tax recreational marijuana to raise money for schools without making make weed available to all.

The representatives of the "Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol" wore suits and stood on a public lawn before the state Capitol and made their case that marijuana legalization would raise needed tax revenues and save money spent on arresting and prosecuting small-time pot users.

Read the entire story: http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20110707/NEWS/110709866/1077&ParentProfile=1058

It's day one for pot legalization backers gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment seeking to authorize pot for recreational use in Colorado.

Supporters need about 86,000 signatures to get the question on ballots next year. They start collecting signatures Thursday afternoon in Denver.

If approved, the amendment would make pot legal in small quantities for adults over 21 starting in 2013. Sixteen states allow medical marijuana, but Colorado's proposal would set up a federal showdown over recreational pot rules. Backers of the amendment say the time is right to seek full legalization.

Read the entire story: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28471773/detail.html

Pot activists are aiming for full legalization of marijuana in Colorado and the fight begins today in Denver.

Supporters of legal recreational-use pot in the state need approximately 86,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot for next year, The Denver Post reports. If the amendment were to get approval by voters, pot would be legal in Colorado, in small quantities, for adults aged 21 and over starting as early as 2013.

Currently, sixteen states allow medical marijuana, according to 7News, but full legalization for recreational use would set up a federal showdown over the often contentious disparity between state and federal pot laws.

The efforts of these Colorado pot advocates is part of the Campaign To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, a collective of marijuana activist groups and individuals including SAFER, Sensible Colorado, NORML and others.

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 makes the personal use, possession and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults aged 21 and older. It establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol is currently. The act also would allow for the cultivation, procesing, and sale of industrial hemp.

Read the entire Regulate Marijuana Like Alchool Act of 2012 here.

Marijuana activist groups in Colorado, including SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation), Sensible Colorado, and NORML, have begun collecting signatures to place the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiative on the 2012 ballot.

In order to make the 2012 ballot, backers of the measure need to gather roughly 86,000 signatures.