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Could Amendment 71 End Colorado's Run as the Nation's "Laboratory of Ideas"?

Brennan Linsley
/
AP photo

Colorado isn’t just an eclectic state demographically. The Centennial State also boasts  huge diversity when it comes to ballot initiatives this November.

In fact, last week The Los Angeles Times called Colorado “a national laboratory for big ideas.”

And this fact is borne out by the state’s history. Colorado is the state, after all, that first granted women the right to vote. And it was also the first state to legalize marijuana. This November, residents will vote on high profile measure dealing with universal health care and assisted suicide.

But many of the more conservative voices in the state believe Colorado’s freewheeling nature has gone too far. That’s the motivating force behind Amendment 71. This measure would make it significantly harder to amend the state’s constitution. And if the new law passes, Colorado’s status as an idea laboratory could become a thing of the past.