Laura Kriho

American cannabis legalization advocate
Laura Jean Kriho (July 23, 1964 – January 30, 2017) was an American cannabis legalization advocate and was also known for her part in a jury nullification trial in the mid 1990s. Kriho was also involved in the Cannabis Therapy Institute and in the push for the adoption of Amendment 20 in the Colorado Constitution. She advocated against Colorado Amendment 64, however, which she viewed as not true legalization. She petitioned the state with her own cannabis legalization language but never went for ballot title/signature collection.

Kriho was born in Chicago and she moved to Boulder, Colorado after she graduated from high school. Kriho worked for state senator Lloyd Casey in the 1990s. Kriho was a juror in a 1996 case of methamphetamine possession in Gilpin County, Colorado. The entire jury voted the defendant guilty of providing a false ID but not guilty on paraphernalia possession. When it came to drug possession, only Kriho voted not guilty. She felt that, since they all agreed the paraphernalia was not the defendant's, it wouldn't make sense for the meth to be considered hers, either. Kriho believed that the accused young woman's drug charge should be solved through family counseling, not through the courts. She also gave out a leaflet to another juror that discussed juries choosing to "make the right decision when the law is wrong." She was also charged with obstruction of justice. Kriho appealed the decision. Kriho continued to advocate for the legalization of marijuana. She was involved in working towards medical marijuana in Colorado, resulting in Amendment 20 to the Colorado Constitution. When Amendment 64 passed, Kriho was actually critical of it because she felt that its regulations for cannabis were too restrictive. In 2014, Kriho was hired as a publication coordinator at the University of Colorado in the College of Arts and Sciences. Kriho was reported to be ill for a few months before her death on January 30, 2017 and had been working from home.