Activists intent on legalizing recreational pot sales in Colorado Springs, Colorado cleared a significant hurdle this week with the announcement that two related adult-use cannabis sales voter initiatives have qualified for the November ballot.

The first ballot measure advanced by the group Your Choice Colorado Springs would legalize recreational weed sales in Colorado Springs, while the second would impose a 5% tax on purchases of adult-use cannabis. If passed by the voters, tax revenue from recreational sales would fund public safety improvements, expand mental health services, and support PTSD programs for veterans.

“Voters in the city stepped up and demanded their voice be heard with respect to ending the prohibition of recreational cannabis sales in Colorado Springs,” Your Choice campaign manager Anthony Carlson said on Monday after announcing the measures had qualified for the ballot. “Especially in these tough economic times, it is critical to ensure every tax dollar that rightfully belongs to Colorado Springs taxpayers stays in our community working to improve our quality of life.”

Colorado voters legalized sales of recreational cannabis with the passage of Amendment 64 in 2012, and regulated sales began in the state two years later. However, the Colorado Springs local government banned recreational cannabis sales in 2013, although the city is home to more than 100 medical dispensaries.

Your Choice Colorado Springs announced its plan for the ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis sales in January and began circulating petitions to qualify the measures for the ballot in March. Activists had until June 20 to collect 19,245 signatures from Colorado Springs residents. The group far exceeded the requirement, turning in more than 98,000 signatures last month.

Pot Taxes Go to Other Cities

Your Choice Colorado Springs maintains that city residents who purchase adult-use cannabis legally must travel to other communities, which reap the tax benefits of recreational cannabis sales. If the initiatives succeed in this November’s election, a portion of the tax proceeds will help fund mental health services and support PTSD programs for military veterans. Colorado Springs has one of the highest veteran populations in the country, with 17% of adult residents identifying as veterans compared to the national average of 7.1%, according to a recent report from The Center Square.

“Our region led the state in suicides last year,” Carlson said, noting that 30% of those who took their own lives were veterans. “This initiative will provide significant funding to ensure we finally have the resources to take control of this crisis.”

Under the legalization initiative, no additional cannabis retail stores would be permitted in the city, but existing medical cannabis retailers would be able to add recreational cannabis on the same premise as their medical location. Karlie Van Arnam, a small business owner and lead elector sponsoring the initiatives, said the campaign “is about practicality.”

“It makes zero sense to continue the prohibition of a product that is 100% legal to possess and consume in our city,” said Arnam. “This campaign isn’t just about revenue. It’s about personal freedom and choice for our residents. It’s about supporting our small businesses and the thousands of people they employ. It’s about expanding mental health access for citizens and ensuring our veterans have access to world-class PTSD programs right here in Colorado Springs. It’s about time this decision is taken out of the hands of a few politicians and given to the people.”

Colorado Springs Mayor Opposes Legalization

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, who has opposed approving recreational cannabis sales in the city for years, issued a statement warning voters about potentially negative aspects of legalizing.

“I remain vehemently opposed to legalizing recreational marijuana in Colorado Springs. There are no regulations in Colorado limiting THC levels which continue to rise and adversely impact young marijuana users,” said Suthers. “In cities with recreational marijuana, it’s not paying for the full cost of the damage it’s doing. Denver, in particular, offers a cautionary tale. In three years, it has dropped from No. 2 to No. 55 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings for best city to live. The pervasive influence of marijuana is a significant factor.”

Carlson said that despite the opposition from city leaders, voters are likely to approve the ballot measure in this November’s general election.

“Colorado Springs residents overwhelmingly voted to approve Amendment 64 in 2012. Our City Council and Mayor have repeatedly defied the will of Colorado Springs voters by keeping recreational cannabis—and its tax revenues—out of Colorado Springs for the past decade, at a loss of $150 million,” Carlson said in an email to High Times. “Now our citizens have spoken again, submitting a record 98,000 signatures—more than 2.5 times more than required—to get these measures on the ballot. The will of Colorado Springs citizens is crystal clear: They want to keep tax revenues from recreational cannabis in Colorado Springs to support efforts including mental health and veteran services.”

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A decade after Colorado made history and legalized recreational cannabis, the state’s second largest city may be ready to get in on the action. For years, Colorado Springs has blocked adult-use cannabis sales within its jurisdiction. Last week, organizers of a campaign that seeks to end that prohibition officially hit the ground running.

The group “Your Choice Colorado Springs” said last week that it had “completed the title setting process with the City,” meaning that it can now start rounding up signatures to get its proposal on the city’s ballot this November.

If it qualifies, voters in Colorado Springs will get to decide on whether or not adult-use cannabis sales should be permitted in the city.

“The citizens of Colorado’s second-largest city finally have it within their power to direct taxes from recreational cannabis sales back to their hometown, rather than to cities like Denver and Manitou Springs,” Anthony Carlson, campaign manager for “Your Choice Colorado Springs,” said, as quoted by the Denver Gazette. “In the coming weeks and months, Your Choice campaign team and volunteers will fan out across the city, seeking signatures from Colorado Springs voters who would like to make sure our hard-earned tax dollars are staying at home serving our community.”

The group announced its intentions in January, saying that Colorado Springs has missed out on precious tax revenue from would-be cannabis customers who buy weed in other cities like Denver.

The state of Colorado legalized recreational cannabis for adults aged 21 and older in 2012; according to the Colorado Springs Indy, a “majority of city residents approved recreational sales in 2012, but elected officials have refused to allow recreational pot sales within the city, often citing the presence of numerous military bases here.”

Westword has more context on the situation.

“Colorado Springs allows around 120 medical marijuana dispensaries to operate within city limits, but the Colorado Springs City Council banned recreational pot sales in 2013, the year after Coloradans legalized recreational marijuana and the year before retail dispensaries opened. Multiple attempts to get the council to approve recreational sales in the city have failed since then, so Your Choice Colorado Springs is now going the election route,” the website reported.

Your Choice Colorado Springs estimates that the city has lost roughly $150,000,000 in revenue over the last 10 years due to the ban, saying that “every year 10 to 15 million dollars of tax revenue that can improve our quality of life is lost to Denver, Manitou Springs, and Pueblo.”

The group’s proposal “would allow only current medical dispensaries to apply for recreational sales permits, in order to comply with the city’s licensing cap; there would be no new stores,” according to Westword, noting that the campaign has “has ninety days to collect around 33,000 signatures” in order to qualify for the ballot.

John Suthers, the mayor of Colorado Springs, reiterated his opposition to allowing recreational pot dispensaries in the city after the group launched its campaign in January. “The petitioners would be asking to allow all 120 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado Springs to become recreational dispensaries. Despite the many promises made in the initial Amendment 64, marijuana revenues have not successfully funded schools, and, instead, revenues have been largely used by the incredibly high cost of regulation and enforcement, including illegal grows and illegal exportation of marijuana,” Suthers said in a statement at the time, as quoted by Colorado Newsline. “Further, the lack of a THC limit in Colorado has resulted in recreational marijuana having such a high THC potency that it is having severe adverse health impacts on its users, particularly younger people.”

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A group of business and community leaders in Colorado Springs, Colorado has launched a bid to legalize sales of recreational cannabis in the city, arguing that tax revenue generated by purchases of legal cannabis by local residents should stay in the community.

Colorado voters legalized sales of recreational cannabis with the passage of Amendment 64 in 2012, and regulated sales began in the state two years later. But Colorado Springs banned recreational cannabis sales in 2013, although the city is home to more than 100 medical cannabis dispensaries. 

Colorado Springs Ballot Measure Filed

On Monday, the group Your Choice Colorado Springs filed ballot language for a proposed voter initiative that would allow the city’s existing medical marijuana dispensaries to apply for licenses to sell adult-use cannabis. In a statement from the group, the coalition of community and business leaders said that Colorado Springs residents are forced to travel to nearby cities that allow recreational sales. As a result, the city is leaving millions of dollars in potential sales tax revenue on the table, according to Your Choice Colorado Springs.

“It’s hard to believe just how much tax revenue politicians have robbed our city of over the past decade,” said Cliff Black, an attorney and the lead elector petitioning the city for adult-use cannabis sales. “Recreational marijuana is 100 percent legal for every single adult living in the city. Yet the city gets none of the benefits. Instead, residents drive and spend their hard-earned money in Manitou, Pueblo, and even Denver, and then bring their marijuana right back home to Colorado Springs. With this initiative, we are asking voters if they want to keep their tax dollars local.”

The group noted that Manitou Springs is the only city in El Paso County that permits recreational cannabis sales. Thanks to limited competition and high local demand, the two dispensaries in Manitou Springs are among the most profitable in the state.

Voters in Colorado Springs approved Amendment 64 by a margin of about 3,000 votes, according to Westword. Activists have made previous bids to legalize recreational cannabis sales, but have failed to gain the support of a majority of the city council. Additionally, Colorado Springs Mayor Mayor John Suthers, who once served as state attorney general, has been a vocal opponent of recreational marijuana sales since taking office in 2015.

“When Colorado began adult-use sales of cannabis in 2014, we anticipated that our local officials would respect the will of the voters and craft a regulatory structure allowing recreational sales,” said Karlie Van Arnam, a mother, small business owner and former candidate for city council. “But instead, year after year, politicians have declined to provide a regulatory structure to collect precious tax revenue for our city. Today, Colorado Springs residents are taking this decision back into our own hands to finally give ourselves the choice to vote on allowing recreational sales in our community.”

Organizers Hope for November 2022 Vote

If the proposed ballot language submitted this week by Your Choice Colorado Springs is approved by the City Initiative Review Committee, the group will have 90 days to collect the approximately 33,000 signatures needed to place the initiative on the ballot for the November 2022 general election.

To comply with the city’s cap on retailers, the ballot measure would only permit existing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational cannabis with state approval. The proposal would not allow new cannabis dispensaries to open in Colorado Springs.

Sales tax revenue generated by recreational cannabis sales in Colorado Springs would help fund public safety improvements, an expansion of mental health services and support for military veterans, according to the Your Choice Colorado Springs website. Recreational cannabis revenue would be subject to an annual audit by a citizen committee “to ensure that money is being spent where voters approved,” according to the group.

“It’s time for Colorado Springs to catch up with the times and make sure we’re keeping the tax revenues that rightfully belong to the people of Colorado Springs,” Jimmy Garrison, a veteran and founder of a PTSD retreat and camp for veterans Lost Creek Ranch said in a statement for Your Choice Colorado Springs. “As a veteran, I’m thrilled to see that a portion of these tax revenues will support our American heroes and my fellow veterans who paid a price for their service and now struggle with PTSD.”

An informal survey conducted by a local television news station last year found that a majority of respondents favored legalizing recreational marijuana sales in Colorado Springs. And Black said that organizers of the ballot initiative have also collected data that shows support for the issue.

“We’ve done the polling, and believe the voters are in favor of allowing recreational sales in Colorado Springs,” he said.

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