How has legalizing marijuana affected Colorado?
• Since recreational marijuana was legalized in 2013, traffic deaths in which drivers tested positive for marijuana increased 135% while all Colorado traffic deaths increased 24%. • Since recreational marijuana was legalized, traffic deaths involving drivers who tested
How has legalizing marijuana hurt Colorado?
While marijuana and criminal justice reform advocates say it's a huge win, it could mean big losses for dispensaries in Colorado. Since 2014, when recreational marijuana went on sale in the Centennial State, business has boomed for Colorado dispensary owners with more than $10 billion in marijuana sales and billions more reaped in tax revenue.
Does Colorado regret legalizing marijuana?
Sheriff Tom Allman says voters in Colorado will regret the decision to legalize marijuana because crime will also increase. Allman says he should know, because for the last 30 years, Mendocino County has been regarded as the marijuana capitol of the U.S.
What are the effects of legalized marijuana in Colorado?
Marijuana Legalization: The Experts Weigh In
- Marijuana Use Will Likely Increase. The impact of marijuana legalization will depend, in large part, on how many people start using the drug once it becomes legal.
- Consequences of Increased Use. Marijuana has several well-studied—if poorly presented—effects on public health and safety. ...
- New Tax Revenue to Support Public Health Programs. As people rush to buy marijuana legally for the first time, their purchases will start to fill the state’s coffers with extra ...
What are the benefits of legalization?
As it becomes legal across the nation, marijuana will provide a number of benefits including potential health benefits, decreasing the nation's crime rate, and improving the economy. The legalization of marijuana will not only funnel more money into the economy but more job opportunities will be created.
Does legalization Increase Use?
Recreational Cannabis Legalization Leads to Higher Use in Some Demographics. The U.S. is seeing an increased use of cannabis resulting from its legalization for recreational purposes, according to a study conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Has alcohol consumption decreased in Colorado?
Compared to all other states that did not legalize recreational cannabis, Colorado households showed a 13% average monthly decrease in purchases of all alcoholic products combined (estimate, 0.87; CI, 0.77, 0.98) and a 6% decrease in wine (0.94; CI, 0.89, 0.99).
Why we should legalize Marijuanas?
One motivation for legalization is the economic benefits that can come from the regulated commercial availability of marijuana. Increased tax revenues, job growth, and investment opportunities all are powerful incentives to push for legalization.
What is the problem with drug legalization?
Opponents argue that legalization would result in an increase in the number of drug users, destroy families, increase crime, and adverse physical effects among drug users. According to drug experts, marijuana is the most popular illegal drug.
Does Colorado have a drinking problem?
5: Deaths each day in the state of Colorado that can be attributed to excessive drinking; 54 percent of those deaths can be attributed to binge drinking. “Statistics suggest that if you die of an alcohol-related cause,” Denver Health's Dr.
Public Opinion and Good Government
- Amendment 64 was approved 55-45 in 2012. A Quinnipiac University pollconducted three years later found support for the law is just as strong as when it passed, but opposition has dropped to 41%.
Regulation, Local Control, and Criminal Justice Savings
- $1.3 billion in marijuana sales took place in legitimate, taxpaying businesses instead of in the underground market in 2016, according to a Denver Post analysis of Colorado Department of Revenue ta...
Tax Revenue and Job Creation
- Regulated marijuana sales generated nearly $200 million in state tax revenue and license fees in 2016, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. This does not include tens of millions of dol...
Economy, Business Climate, Tourism, and Real Estate
- U.S. News & World Report ranked Colorado's state economy as #1 in the nation in March 2017. The2016 Forbes list of 190 “best places for business”included five Colorado cities in the top 50, includi...
Quality of Life, Public Health, and Impact on Youth
- In March 2016, U.S. News & World Report named Denver the #1 best place to live in the United States. The only other Colorado metro area large enough to be considered, Colorado Springs, was ranked #5.
Public Safety
- Colorado government and law enforcement officials have repeatedly stated that there is not enough data to draw any conclusions about what impact, if any, the state’s marijuana laws are having on cr...