CTI is run by one-woman dynamo Laura Kriho, a longtime advocate for "freedom-based" marijuana legislation, who said that victory can only be declared once all the current prisoners of the drug war "come home."

Gov. Bill Ritter inadvertently spurred the new effort when he signed into law bills that place heavy restrictions on the state's blossoming medical marijuana industry, regulations that the bill's sponsor said would require at least half of the current dispensaries in the state to close. Kriho and others consider the rules to be overly restrictive and suspects that their intentions are to render the state's medical marijuana laws, which are written into the constitution, moot.

"While it is vital that Colorado create a system of distribution for patients that works, at this point, we believe the best way to accomplish this is by full relegalization," according to a CTI press release. "The ballot initiative will be modeled after freedom-based models to legalization, which reject the sin taxes and over-regulation promoted in other models."

Kriho said she's shooting for the 2012 ballot in order to have time to raise money, but also for marijuana advocates to agree on the ballot language. She said the movement is currently divided between those who are willing to agree to restrictive measures, such as heavy taxes, for the sake of some form of legalization and others like herself who would prefer to see as few restrictions on the use of marijuana as possible.

CTI is currently forming fund-raising and ballot-language committees. For more information, click here.