This post brought to you by summer programs intern, Justin Haddock. Justin is a student at Reed College where he studies political science and biology. He is interested in public policy, behavioral economics, and willful hypocrisy.
Smoke all you want in Colorado, but don’t read about it. Such stated a provision in a bill that would have required vendors to treat marijuana-themed magazines like pornography and place them behind the counter. The provision prompted Media Coaltion and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a member of our coalition, to file two lawsuits in federal court against the state on behalf of magazine vendors.
In May, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a number of bills into law to delineate the boundaries of the newly legal pot marketplace in the state.
The proposed magazine restrictions didn’t stand for long.The Colorado State Department of Revenue has temporarily blocked the the proposed restrictions on the sale of marijuana-themed magazines and has requested that a federal judge declare such restrictions unconstitutional.
“Clearly, this is speech protected by the Constitution,” said Joyce Meskis of the Tattered Cover Bookstore, one of the plaintiffs of the case. “It has been sold, borrowed and read by people who have had rightful access to this material for years and years. To limit this speech now would be a travesty.”