Pro-marijuana activists are declaring victory for the new city ordinance allowing adults to possess less than an ounce of marijuana after charges were dropped Wednesday against a man for having marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia in his car.
Eric Footer, 39, a real estate consultant who was charged by Denver police on Nov. 17, the day after the ordinance took effect, said he hopes the decision sends a message to others to fight prosecutions for marijuana possession.
“I see it as a personal victory,” said Footer, who says he uses marijuana to dull back pain. “But more than that, I see it as a victory for all the voters who voted on this initiative.”
In November, Denver voters approved making private possession by an adult of less than an ounce of marijuana legal under city ordinances.
It is still illegal under state and federal law, meaning that it is still a crime to possess it in Denver.
Assistant City Attorney Greg Rawlings said he declined to prosecute Footer not because of the controversy that pitted a city ordinance against a state law but because the marijuana seized from Footer’s car by police was not taken properly.
“I couldn’t find a real reason for there to be a search,” said Rawlings, who noted he had other possession-of-marijuana cases he was continuing to prosecute. “Office policy is to follow the state statute.”
Footer’s attorney, Brian Vicente, said marijuana arrests are a waste of taxpayer dollars and divert police from more serious crimes, such as those dealing with violence or property theft.
“I think this will send a strong message to Denver police that adults using marijuana responsibly will not be prosecuted,” said Vicente, executive director of Sensible Colorado, an organization that backed the marijuana initiative.
Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said that while officers would review what happened in Footer’s case, they would not be deterred from making marijuana arrests for possession under an ounce.
“We’ve always enforced on the state statute,” Jackson said, “and will continue to do so.”
Mason Tvert, campaign director for Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), a nonprofit pro-marijuana group that spearheaded the Denver initiative, said he believed the city dropped the case because of its media attention, not because of a bad search.
“He did give consent, so I don’t know how it was a bad search,” Tvert said of Footer’s case. “I think they’re just caving under the pressure of the people of the city.”
Tvert, who says marijuana is a safer choice than alcohol, said his organization as well as Vicente’s will continue to push for the legalization of mari juana use by adults on a state level.
Staff writer Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820-1752 or aherdy@denverpost.com.
