“Let me dance on something that people don’t want to talk about… California is looking at legalizing pot…. Are we coming to the point where we can actually have an adult conversation about this or is this still something we can’t look at?” asks Caldara.

Sen. John Morse on Independent Thinking. Click the photo to watch.

Some highlights:

MORSE: The next session or two are going to be fascinating because thanks to the economy the whole world has shifted and changed…

CALDARA: If I were in your shoes, as a politician, I wouldn’t say that [I was for legalization] because I would win nothing for it. It’s like “You know, the pot guys are on my team” that’s not going to help me win.

SUTHERS: I don’t know, they all own a medical marijuana dispensary and maybe… In fact, they may be opposed [to legalization] because they’re making so much money on medical marijuana.

CALDARA: I think the budget problem allows us to talk about things that during good times we never talk about, including sentencing reform… what would it take for us to have a conversation on decriminalization of drugs. It seems to me that that’s at the heart of all of this.

MORSE: we’ll see. I think it will be lower on the priority list of how do we change the way government functions in Colorado given this budget crisis. We are going to have to rethink that from top to bottom. I mean this $1.3 billion is huge. It’s the equivalent of closing one or two out of five public schools throughout the state, which we can’t do but so it’s going to mean we have to have a whole conversation about everything.

Morse and Suthers are members of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. The Commission meets monthly and is tasked with exploring recidivism reduction initiatives and cost-effective budgeting of the state’s criminal justice funds. The next meeting is scheduled for November 13.

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The troops might be wearing wrist bands with marijuana leaves embroidered on them or denim jackets with pictures of the “Zuni Zombies” on the back. The general, a chunky, round-faced fellow, opted for the corporate look.

Tvert’s pinstripe suit, burgundy tie and short, dark hair belied the stereotypes of what has thus-far been a remarkably successful drive to decriminalize small amounts of pot in Denver.

The City Council members who Tvert had forced into a corner over his latest voter initiative – a November ballot measure to make adult possession of small amounts of pot the police department’s lowest law enforcement priority – were furious.

Councilwoman Carol Boigon talked of “street theater.” Council President Michael Hancock accused Tvert of being a publicity hound.

He sure is. His offer last week to pull the latest pot initiative from the ballot if the mayor and council would declare dope less dangerous than alcohol and suspend marijuana arrests during the 2008 Democratic National Convention was manipulative dramatics  designed to draw nothing more than headlines from the press and outrage from the council.

Monday night, Tvert predicted that both will make it easier to get folks to vote to de-emphasize arrests for pot possession.

“We’re getting attention early,” Tvert said after the council meeting adjourned. “The last time, no one paid attention until October.”

“The last time” to which Tvert referred was when he convinced Denver voters to approve the decriminalization in the city of less than an ounce of dope for personal use by people 21 and over.

Last year, Tvert failed in an attempt to extend that same decriminalization statewide.

So he’s back in Dude-friendly Denver looking for voters to tell the cops to all but stop enforcing a state law. That law was what city leaders hoped would get them off the hook for the decriminalization vote.

“I think we’ll win this when it comes to a vote in November,” Tvert said “If people (in Denver) wanted small amounts of marijuana to be legal, they’ll want (enforcing the state law) to be the lowest priority.”

In truth, simple pot possession is already among the lowest priorities, the head of Denver’s vice and drug control unit told the council.

“We’re not looking for people holding small amounts of marijuana,” Denver Police Capt. Capt. Chris Kroncke said. “We’re looking for people selling drugs.”

Small amounts of pot possessed for personal use is no more than a “check box on a city ticket,” assistant city attorney David Broadwell added. It is, Broadwell continued, “a Class 2 Petty offense” that brings up to a $100 fine, plus court costs, but “no possibility of jail.”

Nevertheless, Broadwell questioned the ability of the city to dictate non-enforcement of a state law, even if the November lowest-priority initiative passes.

Tvert said he’ll take his chances in court.

“Denver is a home-rule city,” Tvert said, which means its decisions can sometimes supersede state rules.

That will be another day’s fight. For now, Tvert and his Dudes and Dudettes will hit the campaign trail once more to fight for their right to party.

“We will demand a debate (over whether pot is more problematic than alcohol),” Tvert said.

Those who oppose the initiative, if they are smart, will argue that marijuana is addictive, debilitating and a gateway drug to harder substances. They’ll point out, as University of Colorado Health Sciences Center professor Tom Brewster did to the council, that de-emphasizing problems with pot makes it more attractive to kids.

But with a majority of Denver voters having twice cast ballots to decriminalize small amounts of dope – once in the successful city initiative, once in the failed statewide initiative – opponents have their work cut out.

“We’re working hard to make this a safe city for all people,” Boigon complained Monday, looking at directly at Tvert. “You’re trying to make a joke out of the electoral process.”

That could be. But on this night, the last laugh went to Dude.