Other states consider Colorado the pioneer of pot. If reported correctly, proposals will be implemented to replicate this mess. They will dismiss the misrepresentations of politicians who claim victory to go where no state has gone before.
“Congress should follow Colorado's lead and bring our nation's marijuana laws into the 21st century,” Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said in a May 2 statement about his support for national legalization.
“Colorado set the standard for legalizing cannabis. The results have been overwhelmingly positive, and now Congress must follow suit by delisting cannabis from Schedule I,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D- Colo., on its Senate website.
Hickenlooper backed up his “overwhelmingly positive” assessment, writing, “The cannabis industry is spurring economic growth in Colorado and other states that have legal marijuana.”
An article in Politico published Sunday begs to differ.
“Colorado's weed market is coming down hard, and it's making other states nervous,” the headline says.
They should be nervous, for insidious reasons far worse than failed business plans. They include:
• A 21.6% increase in the crime rate from 2012 to 2022, as eight neighboring states saw crime rates flatten or decline.
• Traffic fatalities increased by 57% over the past decade.
• A decade-long increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations, emergency room visits, poison control calls and fatal crashes involving THC-impaired drivers, according to data from the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice.
• Suicides increased by 23% since legalization.
• Suicides among Colorado teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 have nearly doubled since legalization.
You can't blame all of this directly on marijuana, but the correlation should raise red flags. And that's just what statistics can measure.
No one can count the number of kids who choose pot over athletics or other extracurricular activities. We cannot count the opportunities lost as a result of choosing a recreational drug, unlike Colorado's countless options for constructive pursuits.
Politico focused on the industry, which is in the dumps. He's talking about 3D Cannabis, which gained national attention as the first store in the United States to legally sell recreational marijuana.
“The windows and doors on the side of the building have been boarded up,” the article explains. “Plastic bags, discarded coffee cups and other trash collect in the corners of the abandoned parking lot.”
A makeshift sign says “temporarily closed.”
“The historic site's sorry state is a fitting symbol of the plight of Colorado's cannabis market,” says Politico.
“What was once a success story has now left a trail of failed businesses and cash-strapped entrepreneurs.”
A $2.2 billion market four years ago fell to $1.5 billion last year. Last year's tax revenue was 30% lower than in 2021.
“Colorado's pioneering cannabis market is now a cautionary tale,” Politico concludes.
Last year alone, the number of Colorado commercial cannabis licenses dropped 16% along with the number of cannabis jobs. Maggie's Farm, a mainstay of southern Colorado's pot industry, closed five of its eight dispensaries this year. Another major pot chain, Native Roots in Denver, cut production in half last year.
Colorado's pot bonanza will be downplayed as a public health hazard and a hog in the hand for investors and entrepreneurs.
Given the layoffs, bankruptcies, and broken hearts, the business side works like the drug itself. It provides a fake high until the buzz wears off and reality screams.
The Gazette Editorial Board
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