Stoned: How Colorado's 5 Years of Legal Pot Is 'Devastating Communities'

This week marks the fifth anniversary of Colorado's legalization of the commercial marijuana trade, and the reviews aren't good.

An editorial in the Colorado Springs Gazette reports, "Five years of retail pot coincide with five years of a homelessness growth rate that ranks among the highest rates in the country. Directors of homeless shelters, and people who live on the streets, tell us homeless substance abusers migrate here for easy access to pot."

The paper says, "Five years of Big Marijuana ushered in a doubling in the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for marijuana, based on research by the pro-legalization Denver Post. Five years of commercial pot have been five years of more marijuana in schools than teachers and administrators ever feared."

“I have a theory that, when you arrive in the middle of a discussion, you can quickly tell which side is right by observing which side it is that is arguing like liberals.”

I have wondered about this because it seems to me prohibitionists in general start repeating the same fallacies over & over very similar to the typical progressive mantra’s. They continue to do so even in the face of valid contradicting evidence they just keep the fallacies coming.

So we shouldn’t oppose a destructive influence on society because the purveyors of that influence may capitalize on the resulting demand?

Now I’ve heard everything. We might as well “legalize” all manner of recreational drugs, then.

And an enriching effect on mobsters. I've never seen an estimate of more than 40% (and have seen less) for how much Prohibition reduced alcohol use. The cure was worse than the disease, which is why conservatives of the day opposed the enactment of Prohibition and supported its repeal.

So we shouldn’t oppose a destructive influence on society because the purveyors of that influence may capitalize on the resulting demand?

We shouldn’t CRIMINALIZE a destructive influence on society because the VIOLENT CRIMINAL purveyors of that influence may capitalize on the resulting demand, thus gaining further means and motive for violence.

That's why we ended Prohibition - or do you think we were wrong to do so?

Now I’ve heard everything. We might as well “legalize” all manner of recreational drugs, then.

The degree of criminal enrichment depends on the popularity of the drug. Marijuana being far and away the most popular illegal drug, taking its profits out of criminal hands may leave us with a war on drugs we can actually win. (If not - then, yes, we continue to legalize step by careful step ... rather than continue a policy that does more harm than good.)

Where Marijuana gains popularity, other drugs will, too. It’s inevitable. It is the RECREATION business, not just the marijuana business, after all.

Demonstrably false. Comparing changes in marijuana use to changes in cocaine use (the first apples-to-apples data I could find at SAMHSA) for each of the 50 states plus D.C. over three different intervals of years, from 21 to 39 states showed trends that were in opposite directions.

And there was no reason to expect your claim to be true, since different drugs have quite different effects.

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