(The Center Square) – Voters in Colorado Springs will decide this November whether to allow the sale and taxation of recreational marijuana within city limits.

A pair of petitions, backed by the pro-marijuana group Your Choice Colorado Springs, were certified recently by the city Clerk and Recorder's Office, KKTV reported.

If approved by voters, one measure would allow medical marijuana stores in the city to begin selling recreational marijuana. The other measure asks voters to place a 5% tax on recreational marijuana sales

Anthony Carlson, campaign manager for Your Choice Colorado Springs, told The Center Square that legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado Springs is "a decade in the making" since statewide voters approved Amendment 64 in 2012.

“The tax revenues would direct resources to three critical areas: providing PTSD programs for Colorado Springs’ 80,000 veterans, expanding mental health programs, and public safety,” according to Carlson.

“These three areas are outlined in the ballot language, and our elected leaders will be required to spend tax dollars in those three areas,” he added. 

Additionally, the proposal if passed would establish a citizens’ oversight committee composed of Colorado Springs residents to ensure these new tax dollars would be spent as voters directed.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told KOAA News that he's “vehemently opposed” to recreational marijuana sales in Colorado Springs. Suthers' office did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

“When we legalized recreational marijuana in the state, I remember the promises,” Suthers told the station. “Number one: there'll be all kinds of money for schools, roads, all that kind of stuff. But all the money we've taken in barely pays for the regulation of marijuana and it doesn't pay for the social problems.”

Carlson responded by saying the mayor “is sticking his head in the sand and talking as if adult-use recreational cannabis isn’t already 100 percent legal to possess and consume in Colorado Springs. Right now, people are traveling to nearby communities, purchasing their cannabis, and bringing it right back home to use."

"Recreational cannabis is already here, we just don’t reap the benefits of the tax revenue that comes with it," he added.