Pubdate: Sun, 22 Mar 2015
Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Gazette
Contact: http://www.gazette.com/sections/opinion/submitletter/
Website: http://www.gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/165
Authors: Pula Davis, Wayne Laugesen, Christine Tatum

ANALYZING COLORADO'S GRAND EXPERIMENT

Advocates told the people of Colorado that legalization of marijuana 
would unclog prisons, help fund education, produce new revenue for 
the general fund and hobble drug cartels. An important part of the 
new plan and theme for the passage of Amendment 64 was that 
regulation was a better idea to mitigate marijuana's effects on our state.

The state and national media have reported on the progress of 
Colorado's grand experiment, describing it mainly as a 
forward-thinking renaissance. In a nationally televised "60 Minutes" 
broadcast, a Colorado-based marijuana industry executive claimed that 
Colorado has done a "phenomenal job" regulating marijuana.

See also: No tax windfall from medical, retail sales

The Gazette created a special project team made up of editorial staff 
and a seasoned reporter to look into these claims and compare them to 
information compiled after a year of legal recreational marijuana 
sales in Colorado. We wanted to examine whether the claims of 
legalization are on a path to becoming realized. We also looked for 
stories that have not been reported to create a clearer picture of 
the state of the industry.

Gazette researchers have spoken with local, regional and national 
experts in law enforcement, medicine and public policy about 
Colorado's experiment with legal sales and use of medical and 
recreational marijuana. We looked at data the state has compiled and 
consulted with drug users, their families and their friends.

See also: Addressing driver impairment difficult

Unlike Denver and several other cities, Colorado Springs did not 
approve recreational sales of marijuana. Yet our research found a 
flourishing black market of recreational pot procured as medicine and 
resold on the street. One teenager spoke in detail about clearing 
more than $1,000 a day by selling medical marijuana at local high schools.

Medical professionals told us about marijuana's harmful effects on 
the developing brains of teens and young adults. Drug treatment 
centers report spikes in admissions since legalization.

Meanwhile, tax revenues have failed to meet projections. While the 
public reads about how much tax revenue legalization has generated, 
state leaders have provided no adequate cost-benefit analysis to 
quantify costs associated with the drug's use and abuse. Colorado 
isn't even equipped to gather such data.

There are also numerous and growing reports of unintended 
consequences of legalization, including more arrests for driving 
under the influence, lawsuits against the state, manufacturing 
hazards, the impact on resources for the homeless and a growing 
concern over exposure and availability to children.

We hope this examination of Colorado since legalization will provide 
a new perspective on an issue that may shape up to be a public 
health, safety and policy quagmire for the ages.

The reporting team: editorial board members Pula Davis and Wayne 
Laugesen and local reporter Christine Tatum.

[sidebar]

Day 1: REGULATION

Two important assumptions about successful legalization of marijuana 
in Colorado were:

1.) Regulation would provide a safer solution to the state's drug problems.

2.) By regulating the sale of marijuana the state could make money 
otherwise locked up in the black market.

Today's stories suggest the net gain from taxes and fees related to 
marijuana sales will not be known for a while, as costs are not known 
or tracked well, and there are many other unknowns about pot's 
effects on public health and safety.

About the series

After the first year of recreational pot sales, The Gazette takes a 
comprehensive look at the unintended consequences of legalizing sales 
and use of recreational marijuana.

Day 1: Colorado has a fragile scheme for regulating legal marijuana 
and implementing a state drug prevention strategy.

Day 2: One of the suppositions about legalizing pot was that 
underground sales would be curtailed, but officials say there is 
evidence of a thriving black market.

Day 3: One teen's struggle to overcome his marijuana addiction shows 
how devastating the effects of the drug can be for younger, more 
vulnerable users.

Day 4: Amid the hoopla about recreational marijuana sales, the 
medical marijuana industry is flourishing and has its own set of 
complicated concerns.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom