Weeding Hickenlooper Out

Four years ago, then-Mayor John Hickenlooper leveraged his popular, quirky image to catapult himself out of Denver’s city hall and into the Colorado governor’s mansion. However, the several pieces of peculiar legislation that have weeded their way onto Colorado’s books during his tenure may be hurting Hickenlooper’s chances at re-election. Much of the frenzy has surrounded one of these creepers: Amendment 64, which, on November 6, 2012, created a legal, regulated market for marijuana.

Hickenlooper’s midterm re-election campaign was once considered an easy win for the Democrat, but that is no longer the case, with his approval ratings now below 50 percent and his Republican challenger, Bob Beauprez, steadily gaining ground. Some have attributed this shift to gun control legislation that has drawn bipartisan criticism, the installation of new and unpopular income taxes or the aftershock of a recall election that ousted two Democratic state senators. But nothing has affected the governor’s reputation quite as much as his status as steward over the first state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana — and it turns out that the citizens’ highs may have taken Hickenlooper to his new lows. As such, figuring out how Coloradans have reacted to this legislation can help us understand the changing perception of their governor as well.

Hickenlooper is a notorious progressive and boundary-pusher. Before his political career, he was the first microbrewer in Colorado. Presiding over his citizenry’s legal highs was not the only extension of that reputation into his governorship. Under his administration, the state of Colorado has legalized gay marriage and built upon its reputation as a leader in energy conservation and renewable clean energy, among other things. Despite this record, he opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado while it was being considered through the state’s referendum mechanism. When the referendum passed, Hickenlooper was left with a legacy he didn’t ask for, as well as a political reality he did not want — one requiring immediate attention.

Hickenlooper has noted that Colorado’s legalization is “one of the great social experiments of the 21st century.” But the Governor has been able to use his experience as a pioneering microbrewer to craft an informed response to Amendment 64. Hickenlooper noted recently that when he opened his business there were a lot of “hoops” to jump through, which made sure his production process was of a high enough quality to ensure the safety of consumers. The governor wants to be “no less rigorous with the marijuana industry.” Entirely new positions within the administration, like a Drug Policy Coordinator and a Director of Marijuana Coordination, were created in order to monitor the effects of the referendum, to make policy recommendations and respond to constituent concerns. The goal was to quickly determine the best ways to regulate recreational marijuana. To justify the cautious yet firm way his administration has been responding to the changes in the state, Hickenlooper has noted that Colorado’s legalization is “one of the great social experiments of the 21^st century.”

And despite the many pitfalls that can plague such extensive government action — and the fallout that many pundits and critics predicted — the experiment is going well. Overall and violent crime levels have decreased, and since Coloradans are smoking their way through literal tons of pot, $35 million has been raised in tax revenue in the six months since the legalization of recreational marijuana. Yet, at the same time, the media has been preying on the rare, negative stories related to recreational use of the drug. One man murdered his wife after consuming weed-laced candy, while a college student who consumed six times the suggested maximum amount of marijuana edibles jumped off of a building and incurred fatal injuries. Such instances are undoubtedly tragic, and they reflect the need for smart regulation of recreational marijuana. But nuance is neither the forte nor interest of sensationalist news agencies, and even in light of Amendment 64’s many successes, for some voters, these stories have permanently tainted the picture of pot’s effect on the state.

With the media’s smoky forecast for the highest state (in terms of altitude) and its experiment with marijuana, Hickenlooper is in a difficult position. His measured efforts to handle his marijuana legacy — like his regulatory task force — are overshadowed by sound bites and talking points. These popularized failures have given the Beauprez campaign another point with which to attack. In a recent criticism meant to reference marijuana’s legality, Beauprez claimed that Hickenlooper has been “the most extreme governor in our state’s history.” To add to his woes, the governor has also become the point-person for all things marijuana-related in Colorado. He was interviewed by Katie Couric about the topic earlier this month, and is often cited by writers on the topic. While the majority of Coloradans still support legalization of marijuana, 51 percent of voters in the state now say that the law is bad for Colorado’s image. In short, any poor press for marijuana in Colorado is poor press for John Hickenlooper.

This perception problem has made Beauprez — clean-cut veteran, former farmer and father of four — seem like a welcome, all-American respite for many of Hickenlooper’s former supporters. But the governor’s pot problem extends beyond just perception. While the legalization of marijuana in Colorado might still remain popular among young Boulderites and Denver residents, and certainly with curious tourists, the smaller, conservative towns of Colorado have balked at this urban liberalism. Many rural Coloradans have been avidly fighting back against legalization in their own towns and counties. Many communities voted to ban shops selling recreational marijuana, limiting the cities where such shops could actually open to only a handful of areas. Support is low amongst these residents and, to them, legalization is only the latest chapter in a set of slights from the Denver elite that Hickenlooper represents. In fact, 11 rural counties in Colorado have considered seceding from the state due to what they perceive as overwhelming liberalism wafting out from the state’s capitol. The reasons behind this push for “New Colorado” include almost everything that has made Hickenlooper’s administration seem progressive, with marijuana legalization near the top of the list. If Hickenlooper can’t stymie the public relations nightmare of ganja-fueled misconduct, it could add fuel to the fire of rural discontent and turn him into a one-term governor.

If Hickenlooper is ousted, it could mean a serious delay for drug liberalization movements. Other states pondering whether to follow in Colorado’s hemp-shoed footsteps will be watching this election closely. If Hickenlooper is ousted, it could mean a serious delay for drug liberalization movements. Politicians frighten easily, and if a once highly popular governor was ejected from office — even remotely because of his connection to legalizing recreational marijuana — roadblocks could pop up throughout state legislatures fearful of political consequences. And if any further pushes for marijuana legalization are to happen, it seems that they will need to be even more thought-out and cautious — and any politician that wants to spearhead these efforts must be prepared to win an arduous battle with the media.

It comes as no surprise then that Hickenlooper himself has urged caution to other states that seem to be on the brink of pursuing the legalization of marijuana, saying, “The jury is still out on this thing.” But the jury isn’t only still out on the effects of marijuana on Colorado — it is also deliberating whether Amendment 64 will steal Hickenlooper’s governor’s seat. If it does, it wouldn’t be surprising if US politicians pass on the legal joints for the time being.