The visible drawbacks of legalization of marijuana in Colorado

After the recent legalization of cannabis in Colorado, many of the drawbacks of its legality have become evident to me and other people in my community. Since its legalization, I have noticed a constant decline in my community. Many neighborhood stores and other places are closing down and are being replaced by cannabis stores. They are all over the place; almost every block has one and they have made the area seem less and less attractive.

In addition to this, many people also choose to smoke cannabis in public, which a big concern. It smells terrible and can put people in danger.

Few people are truly talking about the drawbacks. When watching the news I can see many stories on the benefits that cannabis brings to the state, which is true, but the drawbacks are almost never discussed, which truly bothers me. Send letters of 150 words or fewer to openforum@denverpost.com or 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 800, Denver, CO, 80202. Please include full name, city and phone number. Contact information is for our purposes only; we will not share it with anyone else. You can reach us by telephone at 303-954-1331.