Despite all of the ruckus over the overwhelming passage of Amendment 64, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for most adults, we have high hopes for Aurora and Colorado.
Critics of the measure are more vocal now than they were before Election Day, sounding very much like the voice of “Reefer Madness,” and exuding just about as much credibility as that silly old flick.
But there are two points that state and local lawmakers need to address as implementation of the end of marijuana prohibition in Colorado moves ahead.
Most important, Colorado state lawmakers should take up where authors of Amendment 64 left off in regards to working to prevent the use of marijuana by minors, especially high school students.
While it may seem strange that a move to relax marijuana prohibition laws should also focus on reducing teen drug abuse, it actually underscores the fact that current law and the related War on Drugs fail to keep kids from abusing marijuana and other drugs. It’s time to try another tack.
A similar measure that will end marijuana prohibition in Washington was more complete, dictating a way to tax marijuana sales and set aside some of that money for drug-abuse treatment, marijuana research and drug-abuse education focusing on middle and high school students.
Colorado lawmakers should follow suit.
While marijuana is illegal across the country, there’s been a marked increase in the number of teens who smoke pot, and especially those who smoke pot 20 days or more a month.
Critics of the measure say relaxing marijuana laws will only make the matter worse and seek to connect availability with use. It’s more complicated than that. The same studies being touted showing an increase in the number of teens frequently smoking pot also shows a similar increase in the number of teens drinking booze. In states where the availability of marijuana has remained constant over the last decade, teen use is up as much as in states like Colorado, where so-called medical marijuana has greatly increased the availability of pot.
Wise up, Colorado. Kids smoking pot is more the symptom, not the primary problem. Any child who smokes heavily and frequently is self-medicating, just as do some adults. Whether that use is to “treat” a psychological issue or the result of pernicious addiction, it doesn’t matter. Public schools and parents need to work hard to ensure that alcohol and marijuana are potentially dangerous substances that must be avoided by adolescents and used responsibly as teens move into adulthood.
Americans do a famously poor job of training teens to tread carefully through the minefield of popular human vices: sex, alcohol and drugs, vices that almost every American will participate in. Hollywood has become America’s de facto vice advisor to the detriment of us all.
Here’s a chance for state lawmakers to set aside money for vice education programs, and to seek out what’s effective in other communities.
Locally, Aurora lawmakers are about to determine whether and how recreational marijuana might be sold in the city. Don’t make the mistake of turning the question over to a super-minority of voters in an off-year election like Aurora officials did with the question of medical marijuana dispensaries, made illegal in Aurora by voters.
It’s time to face reality and embrace it. If the federal government permits Colorado to move forward with ending marijuana prohibition, Aurora residents deserve to get their share of the tax revenue this will generate.
Keep in mind this measure isn’t about introducing marijuana usage to Aurora residents, it’s about regulating it for the first time, just like we do alcohol. Aurora lawmakers need to consider aspects of advertising, density and proximity to certain public places, such as schools. But the voting is over and it was overwhelming. Aurora residents and those across the state want to end prohibition, and they expect all of their elected officials to carry that out.