The sad anniversary of Big Commercial Pot in Colorado

[Reality 2,710]

http://gazette.com/editorial-the-sad-anniversary-of-big-commercial-pot-in-colorado/article/1614900?platform=hootsuite

 

 

This week marks the fifth anniversary of Colorado's decision to sanction the world's first anything-goes commercial pot trade.

Five years later, we remain an embarrassing cautionary tale.

Visitors to Colorado remark about a new agricultural smell, the wafting odor of pot as they drive near warehouse grow operations along Denver freeways. Residential neighborhoods throughout Colorado Springs reek of marijuana, as producers fill rental homes with plants.

 

Five years of retail pot coincide with five years of a homelessness growth rate that ranks among the highest rates in the country. Directors of homeless shelters, and people who live on the streets, tell us homeless substance abusers migrate here for easy access to pot.

 

Five years of Big Marijuana ushered in a doubling in the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for marijuana, based on research by the pro-legalization Denver Post.

 

Five years of commercial pot have been five years of more marijuana in schools than teachers and administrators ever feared.

"An investigation by Education News Colorado, Solutions and the I-News Network shows drug violations reported by Colorado's K-12 schools have increased 45 percent in the past four years, even as the combined number of all other violations has fallen," explains an expose on escalating pot use in schools by Rocky Mountain PBS in late 2016.

The investigation found an increase in high school drug violations of 71 percent since legalization. School suspensions for drugs increased 45 percent.

 

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found Colorado ranks first in the country for marijuana use among teens, scoring well above the national average.

 

The only good news to celebrate on this anniversary is the dawn of another organization to push back against Big Marijuana's threat to kids, teens and young adults.

 

The Marijuana Accountability Coalition formed Monday in Denver and will establish satellites throughout the state. It resulted from discussions among recovery professionals, parents, physicians and others concerned with the long-term effects of a commercial industry profiteering off of substance abuse.

 

"It's one thing to decriminalize marijuana, it's an entirely different thing to legalize an industry that has commercialized a drug that is devastating our kids and devastating whole communities," said coalition founder Justin Luke Riley. "Coloradans need to know, other states need to know, that Colorado is suffering from massive normalization and commercialization of this drug which has resulted in Colorado being the number one state for youth drug use in the country. Kids are being expelled at higher rates, and more road deaths tied to pot have resulted since legalization."

 

Commercial pot's five-year anniversary is an odious occasion for those who want safer streets, healthier kids and less suffering associated with substance abuse. Experts say the worst effects of widespread pot use will culminate over decades. If so, we can only imagine the somber nature of Big Marijuana's 25th birthday.

 

 

 

 

[Hardcore troubadour 12,552]

What a shock. The lefts losing streak continues.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

 

It resulted from discussions among recovery professionals, parents, physicians and others concerned with the long-term effects of a commercial industry profiteering off of substance abuse.

 

I would suggest they go talk to the people at Coors, but I am not sure you can drink enough of it to abuse it.

[kutulu 1,541]

Went there this summer.... Seemed fine to me

[NorthernVike 2,079]

This week marks the fifth anniversary of Colorado's decision to sanction the world's first anything-goes commercial pot trade.

 

 

 

Stopped reading there. Completely stupid way to start an article.

[Kanil 519]

Lots of exaggeration/lies on the stuff I know about. Leads me to not trust the stats that I don't know about. I don't care enough to bother looking up whether or not they're telling the truth.

 

My life has changed 0% due to pot legalization.

[Scary Gary 19]

Remember, the dopers are the do-ers and "go-getters" of society. Everyone else is lazy. Dope makes ya work hard and think straight. Remember that, folks.

[wiffleball 4,629]

Hate to introduce facts here, but the reason I know it's b******* is Colorado Springs is one of the places in Colorado where you actually can't buy recreational pot. Which is truly f****** stupid. And most of the grow houses are much further south. They're not wrong about the smell of pot up around sections of Denver but not down here in the springs.

 

Besides, before pot we smelled like the Purina Factory and that was just f****** disgusting. We went from smelling like dog food to smelling like cat piss.

[tanatastic 2,061]

That sounds like an ad designed to get people to move there, not away. Pretty sure the tax money from weed has been the biggest boom for the area in a long time.

[Scary Gary 19]

Lots of exaggeration/lies on the stuff I know about. Leads me to not trust the stats that I don't know about. I don't care enough to bother looking up whether or not they're telling the truth.

 

My life has changed 0% due to pot legalization.

 

 

I don't know what side you are on...but how do you "know" ? You don't. And I'm trying to pick something wif you...I just used your portion about "looking up....to see they are telling the truth"

 

 

If one article says "Yeahhhhh....dope makes you smarter, relaxes you and makes you work harderl"

 

and another article says "Yeahhhh....dope makes you dumber, relaxes you and makes you lazy"

 

You'll believe what you wanna believe. I can promise dopers will cite the articles that say dope is good, and anti-dopers will cite the article that says dope is bad.

Then, when one responds with a link, the other will respond with the words "Well actually....that's a misconception" and then show a link to another article.

 

 

I just go by the eye and experience test.

 

Smokers in general, have lower IQ's and drive sh!ttier cars and have sh!ttier cars and jobs.

Dopers, in general, don't give a fock, and are lazy and probably also fit under the smoker category.

 

Yeah...so someone paste some links to prove me wrong.

[wiffleball 4,629]

Some of this is making sense now. The Gazette is bought and paid for. And Colorado Springs is bought and paid for in terms of big tobacco's fight against legal pot. Then you throw in the huge mega churches and nine separate military bases in about a 20 Mile Square area.

 

It really is truly stupid. People can drive anywhere else in Colorado and pick up their pot and pay the requisite enormous taxes that go directly into the local coffers, but here they have to drive for 10 minutes before they can get their pot and bring it back home to Colorado Springs without them getting a single Dime in tax revenue.

 

Meanwhile, the Springs can't even afford to keep its street lights on at night.

[wiffleball 4,629]

FYI, in less than 4 years, Colorado has brought in half a billion dollars in tax revenue directly associated with the sale of marijuana.

[Cdub100 3,366]

Interesting all I ever hear is about how awesome pot has been for the state.

[Kanil 519]

 

 

I don't know what side you are on...but how do you "know" ? You don't. And I'm trying to pick something wif you...I just used your portion about "looking up....to see they are telling the truth"

 

 

If one article says "Yeahhhhh....dope makes you smarter, relaxes you and makes you work harderl"

 

and another article says "Yeahhhh....dope makes you dumber, relaxes you and makes you lazy"

 

You'll believe what you wanna believe. I can promise dopers will cite the articles that say dope is good, and anti-dopers will cite the article that says dope is bad.

Then, when one responds with a link, the other will respond with the words "Well actually....that's a misconception" and then show a link to another article.

 

 

I just go by the eye and experience test.

 

Smokers in general, have lower IQ's and drive sh!ttier cars and have sh!ttier cars and jobs.

Dopers, in general, don't give a fock, and are lazy and probably also fit under the smoker category.

 

Yeah...so someone paste some links to prove me wrong.

 

 

I was mostly referring to them starting off by saying you smell it all along the freeways. I don't think I've every smelled it on the freeway at all. This article is definitely biased (which, after clicking the link, it's an editorial so it surely is).