3 Months Since Legalizing Marijuana, Here's What Colorado Looks Like

Source Policy Mic

So, people against legalization said that it would increase crime, DUI's and a bunch of other things.

The state's Department of Revenue reports that marijuana retailers sold nearly $19 million in recreational weed in March, up from $14 million in February. The first three months of legal weed have netted about $7.3 million in taxes, not including medical marijuana sales taxes and licenses, which bring the number to $12.6 million. In it's first few months, Colorado could already soon be outpacing those historic first-day sales on a daily basis.

Retail marijuana sales taxes brought in $1.4 million in January, $1.43 million in February and now $1.898 million in March — a clear upward trajectory. And total marijuana tax transfers and distributions went from $2.927 million in January to $4.077 million in March.

So, the revenue is GOOD. It's great actually all things considering.

(Un)intended consequences: Over the same time period, crime in Denver has slightly declined, making opponents who said it would result in more trafficking seem kind of silly. It's created a modest number of jobs ranging from "budtending" and marijuana journalism to farm labor and ownership. (Weedmaps, a dispensary review site, grossed some $25 million in revenue in 2013.) And the state has even created a banking system that complies with the U.S. treasury system's guidelines, clearing up the last regulatory questions. While certain parts of the rollout, like edible cannabis regulations, have come under question, the law seems to be operating basically as intended.

And crime is slightly down, now this is probably not due to this, but it goes to show that since crime has been overall on the decline since the 90's in the USA, the trend only continues, regardless of these new laws.

It will be interesting to see what Washington brings to the table over the next few months as well the ballot initiatives in other states over the next 18 months.

All in all, so far there aren't any negative consequences, but it's also a bit too early to tell for sure.

Let's be mindful of the T&C however and not discuss recreational usage please.

What do you think ATS? Is this a good thing? Are these numbers just the result of a honey moon period?

~Tenth

Problems?

Yeah they got em

On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Distefano testified that Colorado Children’s Hospital has treated seven juveniles for acute illnesses stemming from ingesting edible forms of marijuana since the law went into effect.

And, on Monday night, before Distefano appeared before the House Committee on Health, Insurance, and Environment on two bills to rein in recreational marijuana, a mother of three from Denver on the phone with a 911 operator about the hallucinations being experienced by her husband was killed when he shot her in the head.

State Rep. Frank McNulty (R-Highlands Ranch) says that achieving equivalences between marijuana from plants with the concentrates used in edibles will probably cost the state at least $100,000 to implement, but that every passing day is giving lawmakers reasons why some tightening is necessary.

The reports of edible marijuana making children sick and possibly playing a role in Kristine Kirk’s murder coincides with a new study showing that casual marijuana use can cause changes in the brain. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, a 10-page report on the study says that brain alterations occur in young adults using marijuana before any dependence develops.

The report’s author, Dr. Hans Breiter of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital, said that longer-term studies are needed to see if brain changes cause any symptoms over time.

Food Safety News

a reply to: semperfortis

Alright, well let's remove the propaganda from this article shall we?

On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Distefano testified that Colorado Children’s Hospital has treated seven juveniles for acute illnesses stemming from ingesting edible forms of marijuana since the law went into effect.

This is basically impossible, I'm sorry. This is not the fault of the product, but the fault of who made it.

Nobody tries to ban alcohol when kids over drink do they? Scientifically speaking you'd have to consume your body weight in pot before you could OD or something 'acute' other than respiratory issues from smoke inhalation. The other issues we have are how these plants are grown, what fertilizer they use, process etc.

And, on Monday night, before Distefano appeared before the House Committee on Health, Insurance, and Environment on two bills to rein in recreational marijuana, a mother of three from Denver on the phone with a 911 operator about the hallucinations being experienced by her husband was killed when he shot her in the head.

This is just nonsense, pure and simple. There are 0 confirmed cases of MJ causing psychosis in people for murder, outside of tainted strains. Which is UNLIKELY to occur if it was purchased from a legal grow operation.

So I'm very sorry, but this article is FEAR MONGERING and bad science rolled into a lovely report.

Edit To Add; I am in no way saying that MJ does not effect developing brains. There is enough research to support the idea that consuming active THC can have adverse effects on mental development.

~Tenth

originally posted by: semperfortis
Problems?

Yeah they got em

On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Distefano testified that Colorado Children’s Hospital has treated seven juveniles for acute illnesses stemming from ingesting edible forms of marijuana since the law went into effect.

And, on Monday night, before Distefano appeared before the House Committee on Health, Insurance, and Environment on two bills to rein in recreational marijuana, a mother of three from Denver on the phone with a 911 operator about the hallucinations being experienced by her husband was killed when he shot her in the head.

State Rep. Frank McNulty (R-Highlands Ranch) says that achieving equivalences between marijuana from plants with the concentrates used in edibles will probably cost the state at least $100,000 to implement, but that every passing day is giving lawmakers reasons why some tightening is necessary.

The reports of edible marijuana making children sick and possibly playing a role in Kristine Kirk’s murder coincides with a new study showing that casual marijuana use can cause changes in the brain. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, a 10-page report on the study says that brain alterations occur in young adults using marijuana before any dependence develops.

The report’s author, Dr. Hans Breiter of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital, said that longer-term studies are needed to see if brain changes cause any symptoms over time.

Food Safety News

Yes yes, it kills children, makes black people rape women, we heard the rhetoric before.

THE question should be, DOES THAT OUT WEIGHT the net benefit.

Exploding prison pop, check.

Aiding Violent cartels, Check.


For every child hurt by Legalization, I can claim 1000's more that are growing up parent-less, made orphans on a war of what consenting adults decide to do.

All because it wasn't the Socially acceptable drug of choice, Alcohol or caffeine.


The other NET loss from Prohibition,

The 4th.

So yea, Ill take a few giggly children with arrhythmia, perhaps even a few dead ones, weighted against the horrific cost of Prohibition .


ETA:

I gotta say,

Don't you love it when Mods disagree, its like watchin the parent fight all over again.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Why do you consider my link propaganda and not yours?

Because it supports your side?

This is great news, thanks for sharing.

I only hope the use of medical marijuana gets enough of a foothold with enough sensible backing to keep going and expand to more areas and countries and at the same time show once and for all that cabinets full of big pharma products is a rediculous waste of time, money and resources.

A friend of mine here in France has benefited hugely from it's use following a nasty motorcycle accident some years ago and daily pain that was running his life.

A touch of "couch lock" soothes his pain and makes life bearable enough so he can get at least a little sleep.

With greater acceptance the revenues will increase and tptb will have less reason to react ignorantly at this business.

It is an art, a service, a way of life and sometimes make the difference between chemical dependancy and freedom. I also believe with the kind of regulation that comes with the business, the people who have the need to use it for medication have a safe haven to go to....big issue, and at the same time, reduces the number of unethical sources.

Proof in the pudding eh? ...YAY!

originally posted by: semperfortis
a reply to: tothetenthpower

Why do you consider my link propaganda and not yours?

Because it supports your side?

NO, because your source is wrong.

It's not about it being on my side, it's about your information being false.

It's more of the same. One doctor parroting medically incorrect nonsense.

~Tenth

originally posted by: tothetenthpower

Nobody tries to ban alcohol when kids over drink do they? Scientifically speaking you'd have to consume your body weight in pot before you could OD or something 'acute' other than respiratory issues from smoke inhalation. The other issues we have are how these plants are grown, what fertilizer they use, process etc.

I'd like to add that it's not always what is done to the mind and body that can cause problems but more the mind and body that you do it to.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Stars & flags for you my friend!

Over the years we've seen and read the critics reviews of legalizing marijuana. Basically, according to them, all hell would break loose. The 4 horsemen would rise and life as we know it would turn upside down. But now with these reports rolling in those same critics won't change their tune & neither will the current administration. Now, future administrations will have a more positive outlook, especially concerning the $$ aspect of it, but lets not forget keeping Maryjane illegal also brings in lots of money, for all the wrong people. And it is those people who will continue to do their best to keep Maryjane down and scheduled a class 1 drug.

Derp.

a reply to: semperfortis

I have to agree with Tenth here on this one. It's absolutely asinine to think anyone would experience those kinds of hallucinations on marijuana. The more you take, the more "doped" you become, which is a state of complete immobility. I've seen several of my friends who have taken too much marijuana and it simply puts them into a pathetic stupor. They can't form any coherent thoughts or move at all, aside from the frequent drooling which passes after they sleep it off.

Those reports are clearly slanderous. And just for added reference, I do not smoke weed, but nearly all of my friends do, haha.

In its own way, marijuana has become its own religion.

originally posted by: nerbot

A friend of mine here in France has benefited hugely from it's use following a nasty motorcycle accident some years ago and daily pain that was running his life.

A touch of "couch lock" soothes his pain and makes life bearable enough so he can get at least a little sleep.

I became a Proponent of Medical use at age 26.

Took a stroke and a host of other neurological problems compiled with a liver sensitivity to change my view on all the "dumb stoners" Trying to get high.


Took liver inflammation, compiled with depression and recovery from brain injury, to see the benefits of a more enlightened view on the medical applications the plant could provide.

originally posted by: semperfortis
Problems?

Yeah they got em

On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Distefano testified that Colorado Children’s Hospital has treated seven juveniles for acute illnesses stemming from ingesting edible forms of marijuana since the law went into effect.

And, on Monday night, before Distefano appeared before the House Committee on Health, Insurance, and Environment on two bills to rein in recreational marijuana, a mother of three from Denver on the phone with a 911 operator about the hallucinations being experienced by her husband was killed when he shot her in the head.

State Rep. Frank McNulty (R-Highlands Ranch) says that achieving equivalences between marijuana from plants with the concentrates used in edibles will probably cost the state at least $100,000 to implement, but that every passing day is giving lawmakers reasons why some tightening is necessary.

The reports of edible marijuana making children sick and possibly playing a role in Kristine Kirk’s murder coincides with a new study showing that casual marijuana use can cause changes in the brain. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, a 10-page report on the study says that brain alterations occur in young adults using marijuana before any dependence develops.

The report’s author, Dr. Hans Breiter of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital, said that longer-term studies are needed to see if brain changes cause any symptoms over time.

Food Safety News

So a few underage kids get a bit sick cause they ate some weed?

Boo hoo

And how many hundreds of stupid kids end up serously ill or worse a bit dead cause of underage drinking?

Still dont see justification of draconian laws and punishments.

As a side note, let's take a gander at what Sanjay Gupta had to say months ago regarding this, who I might add was very much against MJ to begin with.

Source

Over the last year, I have been working on a new documentary called "Weed." The title "Weed" may sound cavalier, but the content is not.

I traveled around the world to interview medical leaders, experts, growers and patients. I spoke candidly to them, asking tough questions. What I found was stunning.

Long before I began this project, I had steadily reviewed the scientific literature on medical marijuana from the United States and thought it was fairly unimpressive. Reading these papers five years ago, it was hard to make a case for medicinal marijuana. I even wrote about this in a TIME magazine article, back in 2009, titled "Why I would Vote No on Pot."

Well, I am here to apologize.

I apologize because I didn't look hard enough, until now. I didn't look far enough. I didn't review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.

They didn't have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works

So, we have one of most reputable doctors in the US stating, I was wrong, this should be legal and studied.

~Tenth

a reply to: crazyewok

How about teenagers who prefer to steal their parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles prescription pills?

They're becoming more popular than alcohol, or worse, combined with alcohol!

Pill parties are what the kids are into these days, and unfortunately pill addiction can lead to heroin addiction.

But they say weed is the gateway drug.. Talk about propaganda!

originally posted by: semperfortis
a reply to: tothetenthpower

Why do you consider my link propaganda and not yours?

Because it supports your side?

Because it fails to adress that all though in some cases there may be minor or moderate issues there are far more dangrous and deadly things on the market. Booze, tobacco and refined sugar come to mind! Not to mention the thousands of OD's on over the counter meds such as asprin and paracetamol.

It just dies not warrent cannabis being controlled with a iron fist with penaltys being worse than the side effects.

Whats even with prison being used for possesion anyway? Whats the logic? "You may have some mild or moderate risk of non fatsl side effects so for you own good we send you to jail and slap a criminal record on you cause being in a violent and brutal enviroment and haveing all future job prospects ruined with a record is so much better than some mild ill health effects" honestly its stupid when you actually think about it!

originally posted by: Swills
a reply to: crazyewok

How about teenagers who prefer to steal their parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles prescription pills?

They're becoming more popular than alcohol, or worse, combined with alcohol!

Pill parties are what the kids are into these days, and unfortunately pill addiction can lead to heroin addiction.

But they say weed is the gateway drug.. Talk about propaganda!

See you beat me too it.

Yeah in my last post I was typeig while you posted this I briefy touched on this.

Accidental over the counter and precription OD's range in the thousands alone.
Coupled with sucide attempts and high seekers thats a far bigger issue.

a reply to: benrl

Better still, watching mods fight it out

This is ridiculous. This is best political decision I've seen made in the US in a very long time. Those opposing it must be old and too set in their ways.

There are way too many benefits for legalization than there are for prohibition.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Dagnabit you beat me to it. Took the words right out of my mouth and I just knew a response like that would warrant multiple stars. Guess I'll just have to give you one instead. Good post.