While residents and tourists alike flooded these stores to show their support, prices and limited quantities at those stores encouraged the black market for marijuana to thrive in the state. By the end of the first year, there were over stores across the state, so prices for the drug dropped significantly, allowing a lower barrier of entry while sales went up. Other problems exist within the state, which have been associated with the legalization of marijuana.
Substance abuse is a serious concern, as it is for substances like alcohol or tobacco, which have been legal for much of U. While some of the tax revenue is going to improving marijuana rehab programs , these have focused on education and not the addiction treatment industry.
Lawmakers in the state believe there is still a thriving underground market for this drug despite state legalization of recreational use. There has also been a growing problem with drug dealers smuggling Colorado-grown marijuana across state lines. This practice is a federal crime. The drug is smuggled into other states that do not allow recreational cannabis. Neighboring states have complained, so Colorado says they will work to prevent this type of smuggling.
While Colorado has been very successful as the first state to fully legalize marijuana and regulate businesses, researchers have noted that their market is beginning to level off. This is partially because other states in the U. Due to this more widespread recreational legalization, drug tourism to Colorado has declined somewhat. Some policymakers are emphasizing that it is possible to decriminalize or legalize marijuana without commercializing — and thus promoting through marketing — the drug.
It is also possible for states to take full control over the growing, production, and sales process with recreational marijuana, which would help manage any problems with the black market. As with other drugs, marijuana is addictive.
Many people in Colorado and throughout the US struggle with marijuana use disorder, as evidenced by compulsive marijuana use. Addiction is a disease. Comprehensive treatment is needed to allow for full recovery and cessation of use. Whether marijuana is legal or not, it is important to have access to evidence-based detox and rehabilitation. This ensures that those who struggle with marijuana abuse have the help they need to recover. July January August PBS Newshour.
Some highlights of the report include marijuana arrests have dropped, which was expected. However, law enforcement continues to battle marijuana being sold illegally and the illicit activity is hard to track. Marijuana use among youth did not experience a significant change, according to the report. According to the report, as of June , 2, licensed marijuana businesses were registered in Colorado.
As shown in the graph at the top of this article, El paso County has the most medical marijuana cardholders with 24,, followed by Denver with 11, The sale of recreational marijuana is not legal in El Paso County per a county ordinance. Skip to content. Local Business Listings. Traffic Watch. Viewhouse Sports Blitz. Friday Night Endzone.
Further, it was supposed to end corruption, which has actually spread more widely after legalization. The primary justification for legal marijuana was to provide a financial boon for states, through taxation revenue that could be applied to societal needs like drug treatment or education. Advocates further assured doubters that a legal, regulated regime of drug access would make society safer by driving out the criminal element, thereby reducing violence and illegal drugs.
By now, however, we have enough accumulated data in to see the actual effects of this experiment in drug policy. And they are not comforting. Not only did the promised benefits, both financial and on behalf of public safety, not come to pass, but in multiples areas of daily life the metrics have worsened.
Moreover, the data from Colorado have been accompanied by several years of greater medical science awareness of the health risks from marijuana exposure. Easier access, greater prevalence, higher psychoactive potency from increased THC , a continued criminal element, and more intensive daily use have all occurred since the experiment began. In fact, all of the states that accompanied Colorado on the path toward legalization have now emerged as the states with the highest percentage of youth users, well above the national average.
Among college-age youth 20—25 , past-month use is 50 percent higher than the average, while past-month use for ages 12—17 is 43 percent higher. According to the latest school-based survey from the state, marijuana use has risen over the past two years — , with past-month use of marijuana being reported by 21 percent of young people.
The increase particularly affected young teens 15 and younger who now report a Marijuana use by all age groups has risen by 6. Even where reported rates of youth smoking marijuana have not steeply risen, there is still cause for alarm. The rise of recreational commercial markets has stimulated the introduction of new forms of consuming the drug. Moreover, the use of other drugs, such as methamphetamine or cocaine, is also strikingly high among Coloradans, while the use of alcohol, often in conjunction with other drugs, has not diminished—against the assurances of advocates.
Beginning in , Colorado was the only state with the highest rate of consumption for all four of the major intoxicants: marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and opioids. A troubling data point is that contrary to many hopeful claims, the opioid epidemic of use and overdoses has not been stanched by the rise of marijuana.
In fact, youth marijuana use seems implicated in even greater risk of opioid misuse, including prescription opioid use, just as cannabis use disorder CUD itself also climbs and worsens.
For youth, the number developing CUD , only three years following initiation, rises to over 20 percent. Daily use of marijuana, the most risky pattern, increased by 65 percent between and for high school youths.
Concern over risk of their developing CUD , a risk enhanced by legalization policies, is well-justified. Nationwide, marijuana potency for traditional leaf marijuana has risen since from an average of 6 percent of the psychoactive component THC to over 16 percent today, according to the Marijuana Potency Project, a study funded by the National Institute for Drug Abuse. Moreover, new forms of marijuana concentrates, which are particularly associated with the recreational commercial market, have seen average potency rise to over 61 percent THC.
Increased potency is clearly linked to increased risks of developing CUD as well as increasing the risk of psychotic incidents. Some forms of the drug now available in dispensaries go as high as 90 percent THC , substantially increasing the risk of cannabis-induced psychosis. Is the purported revenue from marijuana sales truly worth it for the states? Not according to a statement counseling against marijuana legalization from several state medical societies representing thousands of physicians.
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