{"id":7845,"date":"2017-11-07T23:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T23:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2849125&amp;preview_id=2849125"},"modified":"2017-11-07T23:28:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T23:28:00","slug":"gops-tom-tancredo-no-regrets-on-backing-2012-colorado-marijuana-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/gops-tom-tancredo-no-regrets-on-backing-2012-colorado-marijuana-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP\u2019s Tom Tancredo: No regrets on backing 2012 Colorado marijuana vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/gops-tom-tancredo-no-regrets-on-backing-2012-colorado-marijuana-vote\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Nov 7, 2017, 3:16 pm \u2022 Updated: Nov 7, 2017, 4:33 pm<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/alexp\/\" rel=\"author\">Alex Pasquariello<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If Tom Tancredo had it to do over again, he\u2019d still support Colorado\u2019s marijuana-legalizing Amendment 64 \u2013 even though he thinks it cost him the 2014 GOP nomination for Colorado governor.<\/p>\n<p>The former congressman \u2014 and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2017\/10\/31\/tom-tancredo-joins-republican-governor-primary\/\">recently announced 2018 Republican gubernatorial candidate<\/a> \u2014 spoke Monday night at a Denver event hosted by advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2012\/11\/06\/coloradans-say-yes-to-recreational-use-of-marijuana\/\">successful ballot initiative<\/a> that made Colorado a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2014\/01\/01\/worlds-first-legal-recreational-marijuana-sales-begin-colorado\/1754\/\">pioneering recreational marijuana state<\/a>, allowing possession and use by adults age 21 and older, and regulated sales. <\/p>\n<p>Standing behind a podium bedecked by a commemorative \u201cYes on 64\u201d glass bowl, Tancredo lamented that the Republican Governors Association <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2014\/07\/28\/group-gop-governors-association-funneled-campaign-cash-to-hurt-tancredo\/\">pumped money into negative ads<\/a> highlighting his position on marijuana legalization in advance of Colorado\u2019s 2014 Republican primary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not fun to lose,\u201d he told the crowd of about 200 gathered in a ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton downtown, \u201cbut if I lose the election because of a principle I believe in, it\u2019s OK \u2014 I can handle that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The conservative firebrand politician threw his support behind Amendment 64 in late September 2012 in a letter to Republican state lawmakers, <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.denverpost.com\/thespot\/2012\/09\/21\/tom-tancredo-backs-marijuana-ballot-measure\/82193\/\">The Denver Post reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have decided it presents a responsible, effective and much-needed solution to a misguided policy,\u201d he told The Post at the time.<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2014\/06\/24\/bob-beauprez-wins-gop-gubernatorial-primary\/\">June 2014 GOP primary<\/a>, Tancredo garnered nearly 27 percent of the vote, finishing second in the four-way race behind Bob Beauprez, with 30 percent.<\/p>\n<p>More than five years after his pro-legalization proclamation, Tancredo is back in Colorado gubernatorial politics, he told the gathering hosted by MPP, the influential advocacy organization that backed Amendment 64 to the tune of $1,241,000 \u2013 approximately 65 percent of the $1,913,000 spent on the campaign, according to MPP.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been bumps in road, we know that. There will be more, we know that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe great thing is, this little experiment in liberty is working and I am happy to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tancredo wasn\u2019t the only 2018 Colorado gubernatorial hopeful celebrating the anniversary of Amendment 64\u2019s passage \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/04\/20\/colorado-congressman-rep-jared-polis-marijuana-policy-interview\/77729\/\">U.S. Rep. Jared Polis also expressed his support<\/a>, although he was not in attendance because of duties in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>The fifth-term Boulder Democrat announced his plan to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2017\/06\/11\/jared-polis-colorado-governor-race\/\">join the 2018 race for governor in June<\/a>. Polis is a founding member of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/02\/16\/cannabis-caucus-congressional-colleagues-legalized-states-join-forces\/73784\/\">Congressional Cannabis Caucus<\/a>, a bipartisan group dedicated to promoting and protecting the nascent marijuana industry. Last\u00a0March,\u00a0he reintroduced the <a href=\"https:\/\/polis.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398343\">Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act<\/a>, which would end the federal prohibition on marijuana, as part of a larger, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/30\/marijuana-federal-decriminalization-legislation-cannabis-industry\/76346\/\">Path to Marijuana Reform<\/a>\u201d bipartisan package of three related bills.<\/p>\n<p>At the event, Polis\u2019 outreach director Mara Brosy-Wiwchar read from an official statement Polis had entered in the Congressional Record in honor of the historic vote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStates like Colorado, and now dozens of other states, have proven that allowing responsible adults to legally purchase marijuana, gives money to classrooms, not cartels; creates jobs, not addicts; and boosts our economy, not our prison population,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cColorado ought to be an example for the nation, and it is past time we lift the federal prohibition on marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4176812\/Rep-Jared-Polis-Congressional-Record-entry-on.pdf\">U.S. Rep. Jared Polis\u2019 Congressional Record entry<\/a> on five-year anniversary of Colorado marijuana legalization<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4176812\/Rep-Jared-Polis-Congressional-Record-entry-on.pdf\">Rep. Jared Polis\u2019 Congressional Record entry on Colorado marijuana legalization vote (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4176812\/Rep-Jared-Polis-Congressional-Record-entry-on.txt\">Rep. Jared Polis\u2019 Congressional Record entry on Colorado marijuana legalization vote (Text)<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/alexp\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/gops-tom-tancredo-no-regrets-on-backing-2012-colorado-marijuana-vote.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">Alex joined The Cannabist as Editor in April 2017. He started his journalism career in Colorado as a reporter at community newspapers and national ski magazines before heading to New York to work as an editor at Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler and digital&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Former congressman Tom Tancredo, who recently entered 2018 race for Colorado governor, speaks about his support in 2012 for marijuana legalization ballot initiative Amendment 64. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7380,6811,6857,854,6813,77,6815,7280,5667,9,5019,441,7381,1,3,7382,61,1736],"tags":[7383,6816,6859,3427,6818,2655,6820,7283,5673,5022,3015,7384,7385],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}