Even as more states ponder the legalization of recreational marijuana, it’s becoming clear that not all towns in legal states are going to vote to make pot legal, as well.
In Colorado, Littleton recently voted against repealing its recreational pot ban, with 17-year-old Mary Harpole, a student from Regis Jesuit High School, joining the protesters against repealing the ban at the city council meeting, saying, “I don’t want to raise kids where buying a drug is easy.”
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But Sean McAllister, a cannabis industry attorney who represented some of the first marijuana dispensaries in the state, says that these towns are “definitely going against the will of the people,” based on the majority number of voters who have supported recreational marijuana legalization.
“I think it’s a lot of timid politicians that think there’s going to be negative consequences, even though the majority of their voters have supported it,” he says.
Mitch Lane agrees. The CTO of High There! – an app that makes it possible for marijuana enthusiasts to connect – says he thinks it’s just “general fear” that drives politicians to vote against the legalization of recreational marijuana.
McAllister also points out that adults can purchase legal marijuana within 10 minutes of Littleton, and he thinks the wrong conversation is being held. “If young people are getting marijuana, then there’s somebody giving it to them,” he says.
