DENVER -- Mile High City residents on Tuesday voted to legalize the possession of a small amount of marijuana, capping a surprisingly nasty campaign that included allegations of misleading voters and exploiting their fears of violent crime.
The change will not affect prosecutions, according to Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrisey.
"The change in Denver’s city ordinance does not change Colorado state law," said Morrissey. "It is still illegal to possess less than an ounce of marijuana anywhere in the state, and that includes Denver."
With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, 54 percent, or 56,001 voters, had cast ballots for Measure I-100, while 46 percent, or 48,632 voters, voted against it.
Morrissey estimated that more than 90 percent of the marijuana possession cases filed in Denver were already being filed by using the state statute and he did not expect a large impact from the ballot measure.
Also Tuesday, voters in the ski resort town of Telluride rejected a proposal to make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by people 18 or older the town's lowest law enforcement priority. The measure, rejected on a vote of 308-332, was placed on the ballot in August by the Town Council.
"We educated voters about the facts that marijuana is less harmful to the user and society than alcohol," said Mason Tvert, campaign organizer for SAFER, or Safer Alternatives For Enjoyable Recreation. "To prohibit adults from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana is bad public policy."
Some supporters hoped the Denver proposal would launch a national trend toward legalizing the drug. They say enforcement causes more problems than it cures. They argued that smoking marijuana should carry the same penalties as abusing alcohol.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Are Cell Phones Killing Bees?
Cell phones killing bees?
A mysterious illness is killing honey bees.
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DADE CITY - Beekeeper Dave Hackenburg isn't sure what to make of a new theory. It's a new study out that suggests RF radiation from cell phones may be to blame for the most staggering and unprecedented loss of honeybees ever recorded.
"There's a lot of wild ideas out there," he said.
Top Florida and U.S. agricultural experts said Tuesday they want to know if there's any truth to the idea that the radio waves are somehow interfering with the bee's internal navigation system. "Honeybees use magnetic fields, ultraviolet radiation, and visual clues to find their way out into the environment and find their way back. So what they're saying is that because of these false magnetic fields, it disrupting bee's ability to triangulate and find their way home. The result is the bees can't find home, run out of energy and simply die instead of returning to their home," explained Gerry Hayes, a scientist with the Apiary Department of the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Hayes doubts it's what's causing nearly half of America's bees to just disappear, but his team at the FDA is checking into it anyway.
"We can't sweep everything away just cause we don't agree with it," he said.
Hackenburg's skeptical too.
"They stuck a cell phone inside a bee hive and it caused this to happen. Well, I lost 2000 hives of bees and those 2000 hives of bees didn't have a cell phone," he said.
Hackenburg argued there are plenty of places in the nation, such as Montana and the Dakotas, that are reporting devastating losses of honeybees where there are no cell towers for hundreds of miles.
In a way, Hackenburg wishes this theory were true then there would be some sort of explanation for what's going on.
Right now, answers are hard to come by. He says if this were the chicken or the cattle industry every Senator from here to Washington State would be in on this.
"Chicken, turkey, hogs-- if they were falling over dead, senators would out here falling all over each other to get this problem fixed yesterday," he offered.
When we first talked to Hackenburg two months ago, the colony collapse disorder was only in 19 states. Today, at least 27 states are reporting CCD.
It’s pretty significant when you consider bees pollinate $15 billion in crops every year in the U.S. alone. Apples, almonds, broccoli, cauliflower, any fruit, or vegetable you can image is affected by this.
Hackenburg said Americans underestimate the importance of honeybees.
"What people don't understand is one out of three bites of food you put in your mouth is from these honeybees," he said.
Hackenburg says it's getting harder on the nation's farmers.
"There's guys have their outfits up for sale what's left of em. They've called it quits," he explained. He's lost nearly half a million dollars in the last crop. He says he can't take another loss like that. Another season with these losses and he'll be out of business.
Gerry Hayes is working to find answers for people just like Dave Hackenburg. He has real concerns.
"Is it the canary in the coal mine? and What does this mean in the larger context of things?" he wondered.
Hayes says a small creature like a bee could be a detector of something deadly in the air long before it becomes potent enough to affect us. His team is looking all kinds of possibilities as to the cause, things like fungi, viruses, pathogens, insecticides and yes, cell phone radiation.
He'll be requesting $75 million in research money from U.S. lawmakers next Monday.
A mysterious illness is killing honey bees.
-->
DADE CITY - Beekeeper Dave Hackenburg isn't sure what to make of a new theory. It's a new study out that suggests RF radiation from cell phones may be to blame for the most staggering and unprecedented loss of honeybees ever recorded.
"There's a lot of wild ideas out there," he said.
Top Florida and U.S. agricultural experts said Tuesday they want to know if there's any truth to the idea that the radio waves are somehow interfering with the bee's internal navigation system. "Honeybees use magnetic fields, ultraviolet radiation, and visual clues to find their way out into the environment and find their way back. So what they're saying is that because of these false magnetic fields, it disrupting bee's ability to triangulate and find their way home. The result is the bees can't find home, run out of energy and simply die instead of returning to their home," explained Gerry Hayes, a scientist with the Apiary Department of the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Hayes doubts it's what's causing nearly half of America's bees to just disappear, but his team at the FDA is checking into it anyway.
"We can't sweep everything away just cause we don't agree with it," he said.
Hackenburg's skeptical too.
"They stuck a cell phone inside a bee hive and it caused this to happen. Well, I lost 2000 hives of bees and those 2000 hives of bees didn't have a cell phone," he said.
Hackenburg argued there are plenty of places in the nation, such as Montana and the Dakotas, that are reporting devastating losses of honeybees where there are no cell towers for hundreds of miles.
In a way, Hackenburg wishes this theory were true then there would be some sort of explanation for what's going on.
Right now, answers are hard to come by. He says if this were the chicken or the cattle industry every Senator from here to Washington State would be in on this.
"Chicken, turkey, hogs-- if they were falling over dead, senators would out here falling all over each other to get this problem fixed yesterday," he offered.
When we first talked to Hackenburg two months ago, the colony collapse disorder was only in 19 states. Today, at least 27 states are reporting CCD.
It’s pretty significant when you consider bees pollinate $15 billion in crops every year in the U.S. alone. Apples, almonds, broccoli, cauliflower, any fruit, or vegetable you can image is affected by this.
Hackenburg said Americans underestimate the importance of honeybees.
"What people don't understand is one out of three bites of food you put in your mouth is from these honeybees," he said.
Hackenburg says it's getting harder on the nation's farmers.
"There's guys have their outfits up for sale what's left of em. They've called it quits," he explained. He's lost nearly half a million dollars in the last crop. He says he can't take another loss like that. Another season with these losses and he'll be out of business.
Gerry Hayes is working to find answers for people just like Dave Hackenburg. He has real concerns.
"Is it the canary in the coal mine? and What does this mean in the larger context of things?" he wondered.
Hayes says a small creature like a bee could be a detector of something deadly in the air long before it becomes potent enough to affect us. His team is looking all kinds of possibilities as to the cause, things like fungi, viruses, pathogens, insecticides and yes, cell phone radiation.
He'll be requesting $75 million in research money from U.S. lawmakers next Monday.
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