A Libertarian congressional candidate wants to provide a financial boost to Colorado’s struggling ski towns through the legalization of cocaine and prostitution, providing tourists with the chance to purchase drugs and hire sex workers while visiting mountain resorts.
In an October 27 interview with Hannah Metzger of Westword, Mark Elworth, who is running in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, said Colorado should regulate both industries and tax the wealthy tourists he expects would travel from around the world as a result. His proposal includes cocaine bars in Aspen, where visitors could purchase measured amounts of the drug before skiing, along with legal sex work for those coming off the slopes.
“I want to get this tourism money in here,” Elworth told the publication. “There are cons, sure. But I think the pros outweigh the cons, greatly. […] These are jobs. People out here need jobs, they need good work. People are hungry out here. People are having a hard time paying their bills.”
Elworth, a Colorado Springs resident, received the Libertarian Party of Colorado’s congressional nod earlier this year at its convention in Aurora. His electoral history stretches back to 2014, when he ran for Nebraska governor as a Libertarian and earned 3.5 percent of the vote. In 2016, he unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Nebraska Legislature and ran for vice president alongside Dan Vacek on the Legal Marijuana Now ticket. The presidential ticket appeared on the ballot in Iowa and Minnesota, earning a total of 13,537 votes.
He later sought a seat on the Omaha City Council in 2017, followed by a congressional bid in Iowa’s 3rd District as the Legal Marijuana Now nominee in 2018. Both campaigns were unsuccessful, with Elworth receiving 8.1 percent in the former’s primary and 0.6 percent in the latter’s general election.
Elworth returned to Nebraska in 2020, seeking the state’s 3rd Congressional District as a Democrat and receiving 17.7 percent of the vote, his strongest general election performance. He sought the same seat the next cycle as the Legal Marijuana Now nominee, earning 5.9 percent. He also chaired that party’s Nebraska affiliate until 2025.
While Congress cannot directly repeal Colorado’s laws prohibiting cocaine and prostitution, Elworth acknowledged during the interview that he hadn’t previously considered the issue. He also does not expect to win in November, hoping instead to use his bid to change voters’ minds about third party candidates.
To that end, he said he is already considering a run for the Widefield School District 3 school board next year, where he hopes to improve schools through fundraising and new revenue sources. When asked whether those sources might include his current proposals, Elworth responded, “Like cocaine and prostitution.”
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