4 ms·

This sounds like a great outcome, and I support legalization for basically these reasons. More revenue for state governments, less violence, less law-enforceme

by rwl 12y ago

This sounds like a great outcome, and I support legalization for basically these reasons. More revenue for state governments, less violence, less law-enforcement time wasted on drug offences, and less crowding of prisons with non-violent drug offenders are all good things. But surely there have been downsides, too, even if they're not the ones that fear-mongerers predicted. Can anyone in Colorado speak to what those are?

tolas 12y ago
It's hard to decide which dispensary to go to? But seriously, I live and work in Downtown Denver and have seen no change for the worse, and frankly haven't heard any evidence that any of the assumed negative effects (ie: increase usage among teens and youth) have happened. Denver is one happy (and healthy) city. Legalization is a no brainer that is simply being held up nationwide due to outdated moral inertia.
akmiller 12y ago
I'm not in Colorado but I saw one of the downsides the other day which is the manufacture of items like candy bars with multiple serving sizes of THC in the one bar. People aren't paying much attention to the serving sizes and there appears to be no restrictions in place yet on how much can be in a given food item. I'm in favor of legalization but there may need to be some more restrictions in place on how much THC could be included in any one item.
- tolas 12y ago
  This is true. It takes responsibility on the users part and possibly more education on the sellers part. But certainly the same is true with alcohol, caffeine, etc. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/07/01/caffeine-overdose-prom-king/11863631/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/07/01/caf...
  - haswell 12y ago
    > One teaspoon of the powder contains up to 1,600 milligrams of caffeine — about 70 cans of Red Bull. Something is a bit off here.
    - The_Pherocity 12y ago
      I suspect the 0 is in err.
    - lfuller 12y ago
      Yes, that would be just 20mg per can... I know that Red Bull is around 80mg per can and other energy drinks can be 275mg or more.
- derwiki 12y ago
  But on the plus side, you can't overdose on THC (like alcohol, cocaine, heroin, etc). I will note that you can still do stupid things that endanger your life.
  - xienze 12y ago
    > But on the plus side, you can't overdose on THC Sure, but you can still have a pretty bad time if you take too much and/or are very sensitive. It's known to cause tachycardia in some people, which is not something to be taken lightly.
    - math0ne 12y ago
      Yes! The government should regulate to prevent you from a "pretty bad time" good use of everyone's time!
      - xienze 12y ago
        "Pretty bad time" is a euphemism for "could have serious negative health consequences." Yes, people can and do have very negative reactions to marijuana. Been there, done that.
- chenelson 12y ago
  People, especially those in their early 20s, tend to not pay attention to the serving size for alcohol, sometimes to the point of death. Those drinking for the first time often experience a hangover. People, especially those of retirement age, tend to ignore the serving size for aspirin, to the point of 30k deaths per year. THC is still rolling with a zero body count. The patriarchy cannot save us from our own ignorance.
  - akmiller 12y ago
    True, but we are talking about things like candy bars. Kids can pick up a candy bar and not realize that a candy bar that contains THC is any different than a regular candy bar. Not to mention that the candy bar may contain extreme dosages of THC.
    - chenelson 12y ago
      Where are "kids" going to find these "candy bars" with "extreme" doses of, what, 100mg of THC? Where are their parents? Can these kids read or are we talking about toddlers? What are the consequences? Are they similiar to aspirin, the Clorox under your sink, or the pathongenic microrganisms in the streams that course through the city? Of course not. Again, zero body count but tons of fear about something people have been doing since there were people. Oh, and regulations mandate all edibles be served in child-resistant packaging.
blocktuw 12y ago
I've been following all the legalization news closely since I live in Denver. The FUD from opponents of legalization are that it will negatively affect children since access will increase. The 'hey mister' won't be only for alcohol anymore but for cannabis too. Many edible products seem to be targeting children with products like gummy bears, hard candies, brownies, sodas, etc. This would increase the likelihood of accidental ingestion but also seems to be purposefully targeting children's interests similar to cigarette cartoon advertising. The issues around advertising, specific products, and increased access for children most likely will be an ongoing problem that will require additional legislation to resolve. Second there is a big fear of increased DUI. The framework for legalization required that there be a penalty for DUI, which has been pegged at 5 nanograms of THC per millimeter of blood. This has its own problem, primarily that somebody who is no longer under the influence can still test positive if they are a heavy user. Officers need better tools at their disposal to determine if a driver is actually a danger while driving. This seems no different than legal pills that people also drive while under the influence. This might be a technology problem since there is no way to tell if a person is under the influence of cannabis. The third big fear is that organized criminal elements will be attracted to the legal market in an attempt to launder their black market sales. There was a big bust of legal grows and dispensaries earlier this year which was supposedly related to cartel sales out of Miami. This seems like the real reason the DEA should be involved in cannabis legalization. So they can determine who is playing by the rules and who is trying to subvert them. Without much quantitative data, the qualitative affects of legalization seem to have a positive impact on people's lives and the general communities around Denver in my personal opinion.
- Nursie 12y ago
  I do wonder what people think is going to happen to children who accidentally ingest the stuff. AFAICT there's not a lot of danger compared to alcohol. I absolutely am not suggesting kids should be allowed pot, just that I think the hysteria is overstated.
  - thesz 12y ago
    The effects can be subtle: http://www.csam-asam.org/sites/default/files/impact_of_marijuana_on_children_and_adolescents.pdf http://www.csam-asam.org/sites/default/files/impact_of_marij... E.g., earlier onset of psychosis symptoms, etc.

by rwl 12y ago

tolas 12y ago

It's hard to decide which dispensary to go to? But seriously, I live and work in Downtown Denver and have seen no change for the worse, and frankly haven't heard any evidence that any of the assumed negative effects (ie: increase usage among teens and youth) have happened. Denver is one happy (and healthy) city. Legalization is a no brainer that is simply being held up nationwide due to outdated moral inertia.

akmiller 12y ago

I'm not in Colorado but I saw one of the downsides the other day which is the manufacture of items like candy bars with multiple serving sizes of THC in the one bar. People aren't paying much attention to the serving sizes and there appears to be no restrictions in place yet on how much can be in a given food item. I'm in favor of legalization but there may need to be some more restrictions in place on how much THC could be included in any one item.

tolas 12y ago
This is true. It takes responsibility on the users part and possibly more education on the sellers part. But certainly the same is true with alcohol, caffeine, etc. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/07/01/caffeine-overdose-prom-king/11863631/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/07/01/caf...
- haswell 12y ago
  > One teaspoon of the powder contains up to 1,600 milligrams of caffeine — about 70 cans of Red Bull. Something is a bit off here.
  - The_Pherocity 12y ago
    I suspect the 0 is in err.
  - lfuller 12y ago
    Yes, that would be just 20mg per can... I know that Red Bull is around 80mg per can and other energy drinks can be 275mg or more.
derwiki 12y ago
But on the plus side, you can't overdose on THC (like alcohol, cocaine, heroin, etc). I will note that you can still do stupid things that endanger your life.
- xienze 12y ago
  > But on the plus side, you can't overdose on THC Sure, but you can still have a pretty bad time if you take too much and/or are very sensitive. It's known to cause tachycardia in some people, which is not something to be taken lightly.
  - math0ne 12y ago
    Yes! The government should regulate to prevent you from a "pretty bad time" good use of everyone's time!
    - xienze 12y ago
      "Pretty bad time" is a euphemism for "could have serious negative health consequences." Yes, people can and do have very negative reactions to marijuana. Been there, done that.
chenelson 12y ago
People, especially those in their early 20s, tend to not pay attention to the serving size for alcohol, sometimes to the point of death. Those drinking for the first time often experience a hangover. People, especially those of retirement age, tend to ignore the serving size for aspirin, to the point of 30k deaths per year. THC is still rolling with a zero body count. The patriarchy cannot save us from our own ignorance.
- akmiller 12y ago
  True, but we are talking about things like candy bars. Kids can pick up a candy bar and not realize that a candy bar that contains THC is any different than a regular candy bar. Not to mention that the candy bar may contain extreme dosages of THC.
  - chenelson 12y ago
    Where are "kids" going to find these "candy bars" with "extreme" doses of, what, 100mg of THC? Where are their parents? Can these kids read or are we talking about toddlers? What are the consequences? Are they similiar to aspirin, the Clorox under your sink, or the pathongenic microrganisms in the streams that course through the city? Of course not. Again, zero body count but tons of fear about something people have been doing since there were people. Oh, and regulations mandate all edibles be served in child-resistant packaging.

blocktuw 12y ago

I've been following all the legalization news closely since I live in Denver. The FUD from opponents of legalization are that it will negatively affect children since access will increase. The 'hey mister' won't be only for alcohol anymore but for cannabis too. Many edible products seem to be targeting children with products like gummy bears, hard candies, brownies, sodas, etc. This would increase the likelihood of accidental ingestion but also seems to be purposefully targeting children's interests similar to cigarette cartoon advertising. The issues around advertising, specific products, and increased access for children most likely will be an ongoing problem that will require additional legislation to resolve. Second there is a big fear of increased DUI. The framework for legalization required that there be a penalty for DUI, which has been pegged at 5 nanograms of THC per millimeter of blood. This has its own problem, primarily that somebody who is no longer under the influence can still test positive if they are a heavy user. Officers need better tools at their disposal to determine if a driver is actually a danger while driving. This seems no different than legal pills that people also drive while under the influence. This might be a technology problem since there is no way to tell if a person is under the influence of cannabis. The third big fear is that organized criminal elements will be attracted to the legal market in an attempt to launder their black market sales. There was a big bust of legal grows and dispensaries earlier this year which was supposedly related to cartel sales out of Miami. This seems like the real reason the DEA should be involved in cannabis legalization. So they can determine who is playing by the rules and who is trying to subvert them. Without much quantitative data, the qualitative affects of legalization seem to have a positive impact on people's lives and the general communities around Denver in my personal opinion.

Nursie 12y ago
I do wonder what people think is going to happen to children who accidentally ingest the stuff. AFAICT there's not a lot of danger compared to alcohol. I absolutely am not suggesting kids should be allowed pot, just that I think the hysteria is overstated.
- thesz 12y ago
  The effects can be subtle: http://www.csam-asam.org/sites/default/files/impact_of_marijuana_on_children_and_adolescents.pdf http://www.csam-asam.org/sites/default/files/impact_of_marij... E.g., earlier onset of psychosis symptoms, etc.