Don’t be fooled by anti-pot fear-mongers

Jeff Hunt’s harrowing portrayal of Colorado’s

legal marijuana industry in his online column, “Marijuana devastated Colorado, don’t legalize it nationally,” is irresponsible at best and, at worst, intentionally false to further his personal crusade to ban a highly regulated, responsible business approved by Colorado voters.

In fact, legalization, the state health department found, has not increased use or frequency of use among teens or adults and doesn’t vary among racial groups. Hunt’s assertion that increased arrests among Latino and black teenagers is due to a surge in use completely ignores drug policy experts who find minority teens are often exposed to a greater law-enforcement presence than their white peers.

Moreover, the Colorado State Patrol reports a decrease in the number of driving-impaired accidents since legalization, and studies indicate the black market has decreased while violent crime hasn’t increased.

As one police chief said, Colorado has “significant safety procedures to ensure legalized marijuana does not contribute to organized crime, diversion to children, or violence in our communities.”

Finally, Hunt considers insignificant the half-a-billion dollars in Colorado tax revenue that has contributed to school construction projects and drop out programs, mental health services and anti-bullying campaigns. The Colorado county that used $420,000 in marijuana tax revenue this year to provide college scholarships to 210 students might disagree with him.

Chuck Smith

Colorado Leads

Denver