The good and the bad of Colorado’s drug divide
The recent decriminalization of hallucinogenic mushrooms in Denver has sparked conversations regarding the health effects and economic impacts behind the initiative. Colorado has once again established itself as the first state to take initiative in expanding our knowledge and dissolving much of the taboo revolving psychedelic drugs. I believe this motion was in favor of discovering possible medical benefits of mushrooms and reducing the often-negligible incarceration of buyers, sellers, and users of said hallucinogens.
It is important to recognize that this measure does have potential to cause more harm than good, but I think it is especially imperative to introduce new ideas on long-standing misconceptions and prejudice revolving the use of the drug.
As I read my Denver paper on a beautiful Saturday morning I come across a letter by David Hopkins.
His opinion was on how Colorado is basically going to hell in a hand basket. Yes, we have legal marijuana, and yes, we voted to decriminalize mushrooms, but after that he goes on to make ridiculous claims and speculations about the life and culture in Colorado. When I get to the end of the article I read his name and he is in Georgia. Seriously?
Here is a guy opining his displeasure and gall for Coloradans having votes, by the people to increase the rights freedoms and of its citizens, while the state he lives in has just passed a bill to make a woman’s right to choose even harder. Stripping away more women’s rights with a ridiculous abortion law. Colorado’s economy is booming. How’s Georgia’s doing?
It’s concerning that The Denver Post, in its editorial on psilocybin, downplays the risks of marijuana.
Colorado’s marijuana, state data show, has increasingly high levels of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The Denver Post’s description of it as “a relatively mild drug” harkens back to the much less potent marijuana of earlier decades.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that marijuana “use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.” It adds: “Heavy cannabis users are more likely to report thoughts of suicide than are nonusers.”
Because marijuana is particularly harmful to developing brains, the hazards are especially pronounced for Colorado youth. We know that a reduced perception of risk can make youth more likely to use drugs. Dismissing marijuana’s risks does a disservice to them and those who care about them.