[420 Girl]

Co. - A celebration of the 25,000 beneficial uses of marijuana — proposed for a local ballfield — was snuffed out by the Nederland Board of Trustees last week.

But a vote on decriminalizing marijuana for all 1,400 residents of Nederland might be coming in April, sealing the Boulder County mountain town's reputation as a go-with-the-flow haven for iconoclasts.

"We've got a long-standing history of a kind of counterculture kind of town," said Town Trustee Marci Wheelock. "A lot of people can move here, and they can do what they want, and your neighbors aren't into each other's business."

Wheelock said she will vote in February to put the marijuana initiative on the April ballot. Nederland resident and former Trustee Michael "Michigan Mike" Torpie helped spearhead a drive to collect 68 valid signatures for the pot proposal, said Nederland Town Clerk Christi Icenogle.

Nederland's ordinance is similar to the one passed in Breckenridge in November that legalized the adult possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

The Nederland question asks voters to legalize the possession, distribution, consumption, cultivation and transportation of marijuana or its derivatives as well as the possession and use of marijuana paraphernalia for anyone 21 or older.

Because enough people signed the petition, "the only responsible thing to do is put it on the ballot so the voters can decide," Wheelock said.

Wheelock also voted for the Mary Jane Musical Festival, slated for July at Nederland's Guercio Ball Field. Co-organizer Cynthia Davis said she wanted to educate residents about marijuana's "25,000 uses," including for food, clothing and medicine.

But the festival was turned down by the trustees on a 4-2 vote. The festival idea essentially split the town in half — a poll on the town's website showed 27 votes for it, 25 votes against it and one unsure vote.

"I was frustrated because the criticism I heard over and over again was that marijuana was a gateway drug, and that's just the type of rumor we wanted to dispel with the festival," Davis said.

Mayor pro-tem Roger Cornell — who voted against the idea — said he heard from residents who didn't want the festival because it would be too disruptive.

"It just seemed like a big commotion in the middle of a small town," Cornell said. "Plenty of people thought it was just too much."


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