Pubdate: Wed, 17 Feb 2016
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: Cannabiz
Copyright: 2016 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Nat Stein

STATE SEES NEARLY $1 BILLION IN 2015 MARIJUANA SALES

Yes, 'Billion' - With a B.

$996,184,788. That's the magic number for 2015, representing the 
value of all the cannabis - both medical and recreational - that was 
purchased in Colorado in year two of retail sales, according to new 
data from the state Department of Revenue.

"I think it's ethical to round that up to a billion," marijuana 
attorney Christian Sederberg tells The Cannabist.

For those who love to geek out on weed math, here's how it all breaks down:

On the recreational side - approximately $588 million in total - pot 
sales generated more than $113 million in revenue for the state in 
2015: $109.1 million from taxes, and $4.7 million in license and 
application fees.

On the medical side - representing $408 million in sales - more than 
$21 million in revenue was generated. The state made $11.4 million in 
taxes, and $9.8 million from license and application fees.

Remember that Colorado sets aside the first $40 million raised from 
the excise tax on wholesale transfers of recreational marijuana for 
public school construction. The rest of the revenue will go toward 
prevention of youth drug use, addiction treatment, research, and 
public-education campaigns.

"Just six years ago, Colorado received zero dollars in tax revenue 
from the sale of marijuana in the state," Mason Tvert, of the 
Marijuana Policy Project, comments in a triumphant press release. 
Other states claim millions of dollars in marijuana sales, he adds, 
but "Colorado is one of the few where those sales are being conducted 
by licensed, taxpaying businesses."

DUI-don't-know

One of the main - and perhaps most reasonable - arguments against 
legalization of marijuana is that more stoned drivers on the road 
threatens public safety (except for that one friend everyone has who 
supposedly drives better high.) Whether weed impairs motor skills as 
alcohol does may in fact be a valid question, but not one 
policymakers are currently entertaining.

What they are pondering is how to enforce drug-impaired driving laws 
when there's not really a Breathalyzer equivalent that can accurately 
test for THC levels. (THC lingers in users' systems, you might get 
pulled over, test positive for THC thanks to a bong hit you took 
weeks ago, and get slapped with a DUI conviction.)

2015 was the second year the Colorado State Highway Patrol tracked 
the number of marijuana-specific DUI charges. Of the 4,546 people 
issued citations for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, 
665 had marijuana in their system when they were arrested.

The State Patrol is test-driving five different THC-detecting 
devices. Every field office in the state has at least one such 
device, according to Maj. Steve Garcia, with the Patrol's training 
branch. When troopers pull over drivers on suspicion of driving while 
stoned, they ask whether the driver would like to participate in the program.

"Sometimes people are glad to participate, and sometimes they want 
nothing to do with us," Garcia tells The Cannabist.

The State Patrol is somewhat cagey about giving too many specifics, 
according to The Cannabist. Information about the devices, the 
companies that manufacture them, how effective they are, how much 
they cost, which troopers are using them, etc., is all still under wraps.

The ideal device would be able to reliably detect five nanograms of 
THC - the legal limit on marijuana presence, as determined by the 
Legislature - in a driver's saliva. To find the ideal technology, 125 
select state troopers test a suspect's saliva using one of the five 
devices, but only after an arrest has been made and blood has been 
tested. The saliva results are, however, discoverable in court.

Science is cool. Exposure to unnecessary risk is not. So what should 
you do if you get pulled over and asked to be a guinea pig for the state?

Prominent Denver DUI attorney Jay Tiftickjian puts it to The 
Cannabist bluntly: "If anything is voluntary, and if it's not 
something that could be in their favor, then why would they expose 
themselves to that? If anybody asked me if they should, I would 
obviously tell them not to."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom