Colorado Marijuana Potency Cap Backers Cancel Campaign

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Supporters of a proposed ballot measure to cap cannabis product potency at 16% THC abruptly halted their campaign on Friday, saying they didn’t have the financial resources to beat the marijuana industry.

“We simply couldn’t go toe-to-toe with the marijuana moguls,” Ali Pruitt, one of the two primary proponents of Amendment 139, said in a press release. “The marijuana industry built a wall of money between us and the November ballot that we simply couldn’t break through.”

Colorado’s cannabis industry recently formed a coalition called the Colorado Health Research Council, which had raised over $300,000 to fight Amendment 139. If passed into law, the potency cap would have banned the vast majority of marijuana products on the legal market.

The release – without citing any documentation – alleged that the cannabis industry had committed “tens of millions” of dollars to defeating the potency cap. And, contrary to industry assertions, it stated that the proposed measure would not have had an impact on medical cannabis. It also charged that industry leaders bought off signature gatherers “to keep the initiative from moving forward.”

The campaign further promised that the fight to “rein in an out-of-control marijuana industry” is not over.