Posted on 08/20/2014 12:29:30 PM PDT by DouglasKC
SNIP
As I reported a few weeks ago, some professors published a peer-reviewed article on the negative social costs to outright legalization. I noted that although overall traffic fatalities in Colorado have gone down since 2007, they went up by 100 percent for operators testing positive for marijuanafrom 39 in 2007 to 78 in 2012. (Colorado legalized marijuana for medical usage in 2009, before legalizing marijuana for other uses in 2012.) Furthermore, in 2007, those pot-positive drivers represented only 7 percent of total fatalities in Colorado, but in 2012 they represented 16 percent of total Colorado fatalities.
This new report paints an even bleaker picture of what is happening in Colorado since it legalized the possession, sale, and consumption of marijuana.
SNIP
1. The majority of DUI drug arrests involve marijuana and 25 to 40 percent were marijuana alone.
2. In 2012, 10.47 percent of Colorado youth ages 12 to 17 were considered current marijuana users compared to 7.55 percent nationally. Colorado ranked fourth in the nation, and was 39 percent higher than the national average.
3. Drug-related student suspensions/expulsions increased 32 percent from school years 2008-09 through 2012-13, the vast majority were for marijuana violations.
4. In 2012, 26.81 percent of college age students were considered current marijuana users compared to 18.89 percent nationally, which ranks Colorado third in the nation and 42 percent above the national average.
5. In 2013, 48.4 percent of Denver adult arrestees tested positive for marijuana, which is a 16 percent increase from 2008.
6. From 2011 through 2013 there was a 57 percent increase in marijuana-related emergency room visits.
7. Hospitalizations related to marijuana has increased 82 percent since 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...
Legalization just leads to a host of problems.
wait . . .
Darwin.
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This article is wrong ... cause I toke up all the time and it's never and any effect on me.
And the War on Drugs leads to a whole other set of problems.
I’m all for states’ rights on this - lets run some experiments and see which policies work out best on the whole.
I haven’t read the article yet, but if marijuana DUIs increased as a proportion, did the total number of DUIs increase accordingly?
Oh, right there in the first paragraph - traffic fatalities have gone down since 2007. What did they do in the last year?
It is good that a State has opportunity to test legalization. There is a problem, however, when using the words “marijuana related,” namely that, just because the substance is involved does not mean it is a *cause.* Of course it will be more prevalent in accompanying various incidents in life because it is more widely used by the population. Beware the circular argument.
If marijuana causes the population to be overly lazy, irresponsible, immoral, and less proficient when operating a motor vehicle, this is a problem. But it is a difficult problem to measure honestly.
Legalize marijuana.
Its for the chillrun, dontcha know.
I could care a gnat’s fart about stoners offing themselves on our highways if they didn’t take innocents along with them.
Acutally they are already too busy on this thread started by a newbie agitator.
Ur right and when it was illegal there were no problems. What were the voters thinking?
Now people in CO are complaining about the offensive smell emanating from MJ second hand smoke.
When in 2012 did MJ become legally available, and for what ages. Has there been any change in various comparable rates for alcohol use/intoxication alone. Also, what about other rates, like assault, domestic violence, etc. In isolated Barrow Alaska, alcoholic beverages were outlawed completely, and police needs reduced by 70%. I knew someone, now dead of respiratory failure, who had crack addiction. He said he wished MJ was easier to get than crack, as he would prefer it.
Much like the Gov is religion to some, Marijuana is to others.
Colorado saw the greatest increases in workplace productivity, cardiovascular health, coherent grammar . . .
We will never put a solid lid on aberrant behavior, but it is prudent to understand it, point it out, and avoid it.
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