Young voters left holding baggie on pot

They'll help decide fate of Amendment 44 after backers' on-campus push

David Montero, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 24, 2006 at midnight

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FORT COLLINS - The ballot was a long, strange trip for Lauren Vogel, a 19-year-old Colorado State University student taking part in the first day of early voting on the campus.

But when it came to Amendment 44, she didn't hesitate.

"I voted no," she said simply.

No matter, according to Mason Tvert, the campaign director for the ballot measure seeking to legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and over. Monday was the day he got a chance to reap the rewards of working the campus hard to register young people to vote in an effort to spur the initiative to victory.

"It was really exciting to see the people who never voted before get out on something they cared about," Tvert said. "A lot said they registered for just this and they would only vote on it. I'm not saying that's a good thing. But they got out there, and they're participating."

Tvert, with the help of the campus Libertarian Party, began registering students months ago at a small table outside the student center. Because election rules prohibited him from being within 100 feet of the voting center, he staged a rally in the open space outside and had all the volunteers dressed in green with the SAFER logo on it. SAFER is the nonprofit voter-education group spearheading the campaign. SAFER stands for the Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation.

Vogel, who said she felt pot was readily available already and didn't feel the need to legitimize it further, saw the pro-44 forces outside the center but already had made her decision.

Not so for Scott Metz, a 25-year-old construction-management major who happily said he voted for the ballot measure.

Metz said he began his college career as a law enforcement major but became disillusioned with the war on drugs. He said the war was a lost cause and that resources were wasted on busting those who smoke marijuana.

"Overall, it's just stupid - the gateway drug thing and the amount of money spent chasing after people who want to smoke marijuana," he said. "We could spend that money better on other things."

Kristen Singer also voted for the measure, saying Tvert was smart to try to target younger voters, who she said are "more likely to listen to all the arguments" about marijuana use.

"We're not from the Reefer Madness generation, so we're more likely to give it a fair look," she said. "But then again, I think my mom and dad are going to vote for it, too."

The early voting area on campus consisted of 32 voting machines and opened at 8 a.m.

Nancy Lubinski, the school's early voting supervisor, said traffic at the polling place was "pretty slow," with students "trickling in throughout the day." By late afternoon, most of the booths were open, with just a couple of students hunched over the long ballot. Lubin-ski said early voting would continue on campus for two weeks and would be open each day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Early voting

500 Denver voters cast ballots at City Hall on Monday, the first day of early voting, a spokesman for the Denver Election Commission reported.

• What is early voting?

It is voting in person at designated voting centers or precincts in your county before Election Day.

WHERE DO I VOTE?

Contact your county clerk for early voting locations in your area:

• Adams County

www.co.adams.co.us

303-654-6030

• Arapahoe County

www.co.arapahoe.co.us

303-795-4511