We are excited to share that Cannabis Community for Fairness and Safety, our campaign that defeated Colorado Proposition 119, received the American Association of Political Consultants’ Campaign Excellence Award for Ballot Measure Campaign of the Year (Statewide).

From the AAPC:

“This next campaign faced numerous challenges in their efforts to defeat a proposed 5% tax on the sale of recreational marijuana in Colorado. To start, they were outspent…24-1… And despite heavy opposition from Colorado public officials, they were able to identify key messages and distribute them to voters throughout the state. Through a grassroots effort, they defeated the measure by 9 points, surprising the politicians, the pundits and the major foundations funding the opposing campaign.”

Read Colorado Leads’ press release after the jump.

Colorado Cannabis Issue Committee Wins Campaign Excellence Award for Best Statewide Ballot Measure Campaign in the Country

DENVER – The Cannabis Community for Fairness and Safety (CCFS), the No on 119 issue committee spearheaded by Colorado Leads, won the Campaign Excellence Award for its exceptional 2021 ballot measure campaign, which defeated a proposal to significantly raise taxes on adult-use cannabis sales. The measure, which was opposed by many public education advocates, proposed that the tax revenue pay for a new, state-administered, out-of-school learning program for Colorado students.

The national award from the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC)—America’s largest and only bipartisan network of political professionals – recognized the substantial challenges CCFS faced in mobilizing against Proposition 119: The initiative was supported by major foundations and nearly every major political figure in the state, including the governor, and the proponents outspent CCFS 24:1. Even so, the organization noted, the grassroots campaign was “able to identify key messages and distribute them to voters throughout the state,” resulting in a 9 percentage-point defeat of the measure.

Chuck Smith, chairman of CCFS and board chair of Colorado Leads, said the campaign marked the first time the Colorado cannabis industry – which has generated $2 billion in tax and fee revenue collections since legalization – and its customers came together to mobilize against a statewide ballot initiative. The grassroots effort was based upon person-to-person messaging in stores and in the community.

“The cannabis industry and its more than 40,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of customers sent a message: If we are singled out to pay more than our fair share, we will harness our political power and fight back,” Smith said.

The No on 119 campaign team recognized by AAPC:

• RBI Strategies and Research – General Consultant
• Chuck Smith, Colorado Leads – CCFS Chair
• Counterpoint Messaging – Media and Messaging
• Keating Research – Survey Research
• Consumer Research Assn. – Qualitative Research
• John Britz, The Britz Company – Education Outreach
• Karen Crummy, Vantage Point Communications – PR/Communications

CCFS was made up of a coalition of industry leaders, including Colorado Leads, the Marijuana Industry Group, BellRock Brands, Good Chemistry, LivWell Enlightened Health, Native Roots and Columbia Care. The Campaign Excellence Awards are a longstanding tradition of the AAPC and recognize those individuals who have significantly contributed to the success of a candidate or public affairs campaign and whose conduct has been consistent with the Professional Code of Ethics of the AAPC.