The money behind the fight for recreational weed in Colorado Springs
COLCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - On TV, your phone, social media, and in your mailbox, you've seen advertisements asking you to vote 'yes' and 'no' on Ballot Question 300, an issue concerning the sale of recreational marijuana in Colorado Springs.
The Colorado Springs Safe Neighborhood Coalition paid for TV ads and texts urging you to vote against recreational marijuana sales.
City campaign finance records from September and October reveal an independent expenditure committee, Colorado Dawn, funneled $100,000 of dark money into the coalition.
KRDO13 Investigates found a non-profit under the same name chaired by republican Steve Durham, who is on the state education board. Its vice chair is State Sen. Paul Lundeen of Monument.
Neither responded to our questions about the ballot measure.
Daniel Cole, a consultant for Colorado Dawn, and spokesperson for Colorado Springs Safe Neighborhood Coalition provided KRDO13 Investigates the following statement:
Colorado Dawn is headquartered in Colorado Springs, and we have a special interest in making sure Colorado Springs stays safe, healthy, and prosperous. Recreational marijuana stores have negatively impacted Denver. We don't want to see Colorado Springs repeat the same mistakes. The presence of recreational marijuana stores normalizes the drug in the eyes of children. Studies have found that crime increases in the neighborhoods surrounding recreational marijuana stores, and other studies have found that they attract down-and-out people from states where high-potency pot is harder to buy. Just three weeks ago, the New York Times published a major expose that concluded, "The accumulating harm is broader and more severe than previously reported." The list of reasons to oppose recreational marijuana stores in Colorado Springs goes on and on.
Daniel Cole
On the other side of the issue, Citizens for Responsible Marijuana Regulation spent $514,013 in September and October.
Native Roots Cannabis, a cannabis group that owns 21 medical and recreational marijuana stores throughout Colorado, is the top donor wanting to legalize recreational marijuana sales.
The cannabis group donated $350,000 and says passing it would create a regulated market that would curb youth use and black market sales along with bringing in more tax revenue.
KRDO13 Investigates received this statement from Meghan Graf, a spokesperson for Citizens for Responsible Marijuana Regulation:
“A few big dollar developers and their favorite local politicians are trying to permanently ban consenting adults and veterans from this industry. Initiative 300 provides a responsible plan with no new stores, safeguards for children, and funding for public safety, mental health and veterans PTSD programs. Springs voters have a choice this fall, and we feel confident voters will look past the dark money spending and do their own research."
In 2022, both sides spent millions of dollars combined in their efforts regarding the issue of recreational marijuana sales in the city. Here is how that stacks up with the current city campaign finance reports for the 2024 election, which includes fundraising for September and October.
