Marijuana is Bringing in Record Tax Cash for Colorado

The study cites a significant increase in marijuana-related traffic deaths and hospital visits in states that have decriminalized marijuana.

Though Washington state isn’t producing the banner headlines that Colorado is, it’s yet another example that marijuana legalization is not only feasible, but a net positive for the state.

For instance, charges for possessing more than 12 ounces of marijuana dropped by 73 percent, and cases alleging possession with intent to distribute fewer than 5 pounds of marijuana dipped by 70 percent.

History was made in Colorado, guys: Tax revenue from marijuana sales was higher than revenue brought in by alcohol.

Support for marijuana legalization has grown in Colorado since voters approved Amendment 64 by a 10-point margin in November 2012. Recreational marijuana will also be on the ballot for the 2016 election so we shall see if it passes. So, if marijuana is so good at all that it can do then why is it not legal in most states?

The marijuana industry would be fitting for the mountain state – the growing climate is almost ideal for the cannabis plant.

Ian James, executive director of ResponsibleOhio, the group backing Issue 3, called the the report “fear mongering” and proffered misleading data.

Smoking marijuana in public has been a touchy issue in Colorado. The group, which was chaired by Carlton Turner, Ronald Reagan’s former drug czar, who once said that marijuana leads to homosexuality and AIDS, led a campaign dedicated to defeating United for Care’s initiative with videos and ads using similar statistics.

Clearly, Colorado’s experience thus far with the legalization of marijuana seems to have been a win-win for the state and taxpayers. The gateway stigma was debunked by the medical profession when it said alcohol is a potentially more unsafe gateway drug. But that could be viewed as too small a sample size to make any definitive conclusions and that those numbers come from lab tests and from people who walked into the ER and admitted they had smoked pot, which doesn’t necessarily mean their emergency was weed-related.

Ohioans would be wise to let other states experiment with marijuana legalization before leaping into a perilous change to the state constitution.