So Denver authorities are assuming, it seems, that the press, pols, and party people who’ll be descending on their city next week will be high on more than Hope. Reason is reporting (h/t: Ben Smith) that Denver’s own drug czar, Mason Tvert, is expecting a “surge” in pot use while the convention’s in town. Tolvert, speaking yesterday afternoon to a panel charged with enforcing Colorado’s lenient pot-possession policies, told his audience (emphasis mine)
that marijuana arrests in Denver, which totaled 1,600 last year, are on pace to hit 1,900 this year, without taking into account a surge that’s likely to accompany the Democratic National Convention, which begins on Monday.
That same panel, yesterday, passed a resolution urging police “to refrain from arresting or citing pot smokers during the convention.” But, alas, police have ignored such resolutions in the past–and, according to the AP, “city officials say the resolution is not binding.” So…Is the resolution half-baked? Will the whole convention go to pot? Can’t wait to find out!
Megan Garber is an assistant editor at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. She was formerly a CJR staff writer.