A judge has blocked an attempt by city officials in Colorado Springs to send recreational cannabis back to the ballot in April.
Last fall, 55% of voters approved legal recreational cannabis sales in city, which had been a holdout since Colorado legalized adult-use marijuana in 2014. Despite the majority support, city officials prepared a new measure that send recreational cannabis back to the polls.
“We’re just going to give the citizens one chance to make sure this was their intent,” Councilman Dave Donelson told The Denver Post.
The move was met with a lawsuit filed by a Colorado Springs-based veteran group and a local cannabis shop owner.
“It is not only outrageous that this council believes it can overturn the will of the voters simply because they don’t agree with the result, but it is blatantly unconstitutional,” said Tom Scudder, president of the Colorado Springs Cannabis Association.
Now the courts have sided with proponents of recreational cannabis in Colorado Springs. As the judge pointed out, when Colorado first legalized recreational cannabis 12 years ago, the measure included language requiring any prohibition measure to appear on a general election ballot during an even numbered year.
