This opposition of some religious leaders comes as no surprise to most. Some religious leaders are claiming that medical marijuana has hurt communities and that legalization through Amendment 64 would encourage young people to try marijuana. There are, however, a couple of surprising things about this event.

In addition to the list of supporters, there are a few statements from those religious leaders such as this one from Rev. Bill Kirton:

How we punish people and what we punish them for are central moral questions. If a punishment policy fails to meet its objectives and causes harms to humans, I believe we have a moral obligation to support change. Our laws punishing marijuana use have caused more harm than good to our society and that is why I am supporting replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of strict regulation with sensible safeguards.

What I find most interesting about this is the difference in reports from the Associated Press.

An article released by the Denver Post about this event is only 7 sentences long. An article released by the Washington Post about this event is a full page long, and much of the additional information is about the religious leaders that spoke out in favor of Amendment 64.