On Nov. 6, Coloradans voted for Amendment 64. Amendment 64 is an act that legalizes the consumption and possession of marijuana like alcohol for citizens of Colorado 21 years of age or older. Transportation of marijuana is allowed under the condition that it is one ounce or less or up to six plants. Use of marijuana is not permitted in public. The first $40 million in tax revenue raised annually will go to the public school capital construction assistance fund.

Yes

By: Elliott Smith

 To the average Colorado parent, amendment 64 may seem like a nightmare. The media will paint a picture in which an army of bloodshot-eyed, dimwitted teenagers with the munchies invading the state. Although this fear may be real for parents, the vision is highly romanticized. In fact, according to a study conducted by Portugal’s Institute on Drugs and Drug Addiction, ten years after decriminalization of all drugs in Portugal, not just marijuana, drug abuse has decreased by half. There is no definitive evidence that policies decriminalizing or increasing access to illicit drugs, provisions such as amendment 64, have any effect on increasing the number of users.

So Coloradans can rest assured that the whole state won’t be experiencing a Rocky Mountain high come January 2014. But, what will happen is not a horde of zombie stoners, but a flood of money into the state of Colorado. A market with a large demand will be opened for legal exchange, and people in and out of Colorado will begin investing their money in marijuana, marijuana-related products, and industrial hemp. Many people in the state have felt the squeeze from the slow economic recovery since 2008, and a recharged and revitalized economy is something every Coloradan will appreciate.

Another thing that will decrease is illicit drug trade and all of the violence associated with it. Now that marijuana would be exchanged legally in an open market, the demand for marijuana outside of the state through wholesale drug dealers will decrease. A vast amount of the marijuana that is bought and sold in Colorado is the product of Mexican drug cartels. According to the think tank Institute of Mexican Competitiveness (IMCO), if the legalization initiatives in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington were to pass, up to 30 percent of the Mexican drug cartels revenues could disintegrate. Oregon said no to their provision, but between the amendments passed in two different states, a serious blow will be dealt to the cartels. An estimated 54,927 people have lost their lives in the battle between the Mexican government and the cartels. One must weigh the domestic interests of keeping marijuana illegal with the value of human life.

From an economic standpoint, those with the money to buy a product and those willing to spend it will receive that product, regardless of legality. Before and after legalization initiatives, the use of marijuana won’t see any change. Also, the first 40 million dollars of revenue from amendment 64 will go to public schools, tax revenue will undergo a substantial increase, and Colorado’s economy will be riding high, no pun intended. Regardless of your views on the use of marijuana, lives will be saved from drug-related violence. And if less people losing their lives from violence won’t convince you, I don’t know what will. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

No

By: Amber Baack

 People across the state of Colorado have been aware of the presence of the drug marijuana for quite some time now. Smoking pot is something that high school students accept as normal and are not usually shocked when a peer says, “I’ve smoked weed.” But, while it has been a common occurrence in the generation of college and high school youth, it reached a new level when it was passed as legal at the state level. While many teenagers shrug off the passing of this amendment as though nothing really has changed, the older generation fears for what is to come.

The drug marijuana contains THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) which is what causes a person to feel “high” or happy due to the release of dopamine that it causes to occur. While many people believe that marijuana is harmless this is not the truth. Short term, marijuana affects memory, judgment, and coordination. Long term though, it has been proven to reduce a person’s learning ability because it limits someone’s capacity to absorb and retain information. While this drug will only be legal for people over 21 years of age and will be regulated like alcohol, more youth will inevitably be able to get their hands on it. Some would argue that many youth can already easily attain this drug. Yes, many people already do possess marijuana. But a large change will be that it will be legal for those over a certain age and these people will now be able to give it to the younger generation with much more ease. Due to this, marijuana will become more incorporated into family life. If adults who are interested in marijuana can possess it legally, it will inevitably fall into the hands of the youth of the household at some point just as cigarettes and tobacco can for children with parents who possess these drugs. With the negative effect that marijuana has on learning and brain development, it will prove to be a very negative thing for youth and it will become so much easier for these youth to get it.

The law enforcement agency has developed reliable ways to designate if someone is driving under the influence of alcohol. What are they going to do about driving under the influence of marijuana? How are they going to prove that someone is “high”? While these methods are still being developed and will most likely be further along their way by 2014, it is still a trying question for the police. It will also be a lot harder to identify people who are illegally possessing a maximum number of marijuana plants as well as successfully managing to bust underage marijuana use and possession as a large amount of it will be concealed within the safety of the home. In an interview Police Chief Brian Kozak said, “When I was a chief of police in Colorado, when the medical marijuana laws came out, we saw a tremendous increase in DUI because of marijuana smoking.”

It is true that the legal distribution of marijuana will be beneficial to the economy. With the ability to tax this drug and for it to be regulated, a lot of money that had once been “underground” or in the “black market” will now be bringing in revenue for the state. Many people are discussing the prospects of selling marijuana in food items such as brownies and lollipops and even a new soda brand that contains THC. But, with the legalization of marijuana, will there be a chain reaction of legalizing all drugs with the “intent” to benefit the economy? Marijuana does have many negative effects but they are not as severe as the effects that heroin, ecstasy, meth, and other hard drugs have on the body and on the brain. If those were to become legal, what would happen?

Marijuana has been legalized, with designated restrictions, for people over the age of 21 in the states of Colorado and Washington. This has been decided in the election and it can not be undone at this point. But what should really be considered is what kind of negative impact will it have? The passing of Amendment 64 could start a chain reaction of negative things for our state of Colorado.