Colorado officials decry dishonesty of anti-205 group

It was clear from the beginning that opponents of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (Proposition 205) were going to rely on fear tactics. But I guess that wasn’t good enough, so they moved on to distortion, exaggeration and, according to Colorado officials, outright fabrication.

On Monday the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol shared a letter sent by a group of elected officials from Colorado to the leaders of the anti-Prop. 205 group disputing the information (or misinformation) touted in the anti-marijuana campaign. In other words, they asked them, politely, to start telling the truth.

The letter was sent to Seth Leibsohn and Sheila Polk, leaders of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, by Colorado Sen. Pat Steadman and Reps. Millie Hamner and Jonathan Singer. I'll let you read it and decide. What you'll come away with, I'd guess, is that the self-proclaimed Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy aren't so dedicated to responsible campaigning. But we knew that, already. The letter reads in part: Dear Mr. Leibsohn and Ms. Polk: It has been brought to our attention that your committee has produced and aired television ads that convey inaccurate and misleading statements about Colorado’s experience with regulating and taxing marijuana for adult use. As members of the Colorado Legislature ... we can say with certainty that the claims about Colorado marijuana tax revenues featured in your committee’s ads range from highly misleading to wholly inaccurate.

• Of the approximately $220.8 million in total marijuana tax revenue distributions made in FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17, more than $138.3 million was distributed to the Colorado Department of Education to benefit Colorado schools. …

• Of those funds, $114.9 million was distributed to the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) public school construction program. When Colorado voters adopted Amendment 64, they were promised a tax on wholesale marijuana transfers would raise $40 million per year for the BEST program. That tax actually raised more than $40 million in the last fiscal year, resulting in $40 million for the BEST program in FY 2016-17, plus an additional $5.7 million for Colorado’s Public School Fund.

• In addition to the funds raised for the BEST program and the Public School Fund, more than $5.5 million was used to increase the presence of health professionals in our schools, and more than $4.3 million was used for health-related programs in schools. …

We respectfully request that you stop airing or otherwise publishing campaign ads that contradict these facts. We also trust they will be reflected in any of your future communications to Arizona voters regarding Colorado’s experience with regulating and taxing marijuana for adult use.

It’s a nice sentiment, and convincingly argued, but I wouldn’t count on it.