MARIJUANA ISSUE GOES UP IN SMOKE

Telluride voters decided Tuesday that law enforcement in this high-
altitude resort will not turn its attention away from high times.

"Question 200," which asked voters to make enforcement of possession
of marijuana by adults the lowest enforcement priority for the
Telluride Town Marshal's office, failed by a vote of 308 in favor and
332 opposed.

Many Telluride officials predicted the marijuana measure would be
defeated - not because voters in this live-and-let-live town are
uptight about marijuana use, but because the ballot issue was not
necessary. Enforcement of marijuana possession laws is already a low
priority, they said.

There were 17 citations issued for possession of marijuana in the past
year in this town of 2,300. Most of those tickets were issued after
marshals were investigating another crime or accident and spotted
marijuana in the process, said Chief Marshall Mary Heller.

Question 200 ran into heavy opposition from public officials,
including the town board, candidates for that board and San Miguel
County Sheriff Bill Masters, who has become nationally known for his
criticism of drug laws.

Masters called the measure "a bad idea" because he said law
enforcement officials should be setting their own priorities and
Telluride doesn't need outside interference with a measure such as
Question 200.

Much of the opposition publicized in a flurry of letters to the editor
in the local papers centered on the fact that the measure has been
backed and funded by some members of Sensible Colorado, a Denver-
based nonprofit that promotes easing marijuana laws.

Brian Vicente, the executive director of Sensible Colorado, said the
marijuana ballot measure was introduced in Telluride because it is a
"forward-thinking community." The measure's initial backers also
included longtime San Miguel County Coroner Bob Dempsey, a well-known
Telluride street musician and a former Telluride resident who now
lives in Durango.

Those backers passed petitions and collected 82 signatures to get the
referendum on the ballot. The town board had the option of passing the
measure or taking it to voters.