{"id":9351,"date":"2021-04-13T21:05:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T21:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=4528298"},"modified":"2021-04-13T21:05:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T21:05:44","slug":"steve-fox-who-helped-legalize-marijuana-in-colorado-has-died-at-53","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/steve-fox-who-helped-legalize-marijuana-in-colorado-has-died-at-53\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Fox, who helped legalize marijuana in Colorado, has died at 53"},"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\/steve-fox-who-helped-legalize-marijuana-in-colorado-has-died-at-53\/\" 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><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/steve-fox-who-helped-legalize-marijuana-in-colorado-has-died-at-53.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2021\/04\/13\/steve-fox-legal-marijuana-colorado-dies\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dp-news-marijuana+%28Denver+Post%3A+News%3A+Marijuana%29&amp;utm_content=Google+UK#comments-anchor\"><span class=\"spot-im-replies-count\" data-post-id=\"4528298\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>One of the leaders of Colorado\u2019s first-in-the-nation recreational marijuana legalization movement, Steve Fox, has died at the age of 53.<\/p>\n<p>Fox was the\u00a0lead drafter of Colorado Amendment 64, which passed in 2012 with a little more than 55% of the vote, and he also lobbied for legal weed in the state capitol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are truly heartbroken to share news of the passing of our partner and dear friend Steve Fox,\u201d wrote the cannabis law group Vicente Sederberg LLP, where Fox was a leader since 2010. Fox also served as a managing partner of VS Strategies since co-founding the group in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Fox conceptualized and co-founded Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), as well as coauthored the 2009 book \u201cMarijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People To Drink?,\u201d according to the Vicente Sederberg release.<\/p>\n<p>Mason Tvert, among Amendment 64\u2019s chief proponents and a friend and colleague of Fox, described Fox as inspirational.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe made me feel like we could do anything,\u201d Tvert told The Post. \u201cThis guy, he was truly passionate about helping people, both those around him and those that he knew were being affected by bad policies. And he never got a ton of recognition and he didn\u2019t really seek recognition. He was always proud to be the guy behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fox had worked for President Bill Clinton\u2019s second presidential campaign in Little Rock, Ark., as well as in Congress, Tvert said.<\/p>\n<p>Tvert also noted that Fox was not from Colorado, but \u201cwas as responsible if not more responsible than any single individual for getting cannabis legalized and advancing this industry so far.\u201d Since Colorado legalized weed, several states have followed, with New Mexico and New York just this year. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2021\/03\/11\/colorado-10-billion-marijuana-sales\/\">Colorado itself has sold at least $10 billion in marijuana since legalization.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2013, Fox received an award from the Drug Policy Alliance in recognition of his influence on the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, the cannabis law group\u2019s letter said.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2015, Fox sparred with The Denver Post editorial board after it penned a piece lamenting an uptick in marijuana use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more important question is why the editorial board considers an increase in marijuana use \u2018disturbing,\u2019\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2015\/01\/12\/reader-we-should-encourage-a-shift-from-alcohol-use-to-marijuana-use\/\">Fox wrote at the time<\/a>. \u201cThis survey only showed a statistically significant increase in consumption by adults. Is this disturbing for moral reasons or is it based on societal costs? Did the survey cite any specific negative public health outcomes from increased adult use? (Answer: No.)\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Vicente Sederberg release to family, friends and colleagues did not provide a cause of death nor a day.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>It describes Fox as having \u201cwisdom beyond his years and a pioneering spirit, Steve was an \u2018old soul\u2019 with a knack for seeing things in a new light. He was strongly principled, deeply empathic, and fiercely kind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd despite his usually soft-spoken and lighthearted demeanor, his opinions rarely went unheard and always carried significant weight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSteve Fox was a trailblazer in the legalization of cannabis here in Colorado and helped lay the groundwork for today\u2019s legal industry. His innovative spirit has left a lasting impact that won\u2019t soon fade. My heart goes out to his wife and daughters,\u201d Gov. Jared Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>Fox is survived by his wife and two daughters. A GoFundMe page has been set up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-the-family-of-steve-fox\">support his family<\/a>. Raised in the Jewish faith, Fox believed and practiced \u201cTikkun olam,\u201d to \u201crepair or heal the world,\u201d according to the release. \u201cThat is what drove Steve to take on the cause of cannabis policy reform. And it was what drove Steve to be the person he was. Tikkun olam. Mission accomplished, dear friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Denver Post reporters Alex Burness and Saja Hindi contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Steve Fox spearheaded legalizing recreational marijuana in Colorado in 2012 and helped give rise to the massive legal cannabis industry in the state and across the country. He has died at the age of 53. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,52,6811,8171,6813,77,6815,7280,9,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[5063,2632,6816,8174,6818,2655,6820,7283,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9351"}],"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=9351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}