Nearing Midnight: Colorado's
Marijuana Legalization Experiment Goes to Pot - Too Strandberg -
http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html
We are now into the fifth month of recreational marijuana usage in Colorado, and there are growing signs that legalization advocates were just blowing smoke. According to a report by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), an organization founded by former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the son of Ted Kennedy, Amendment 64 has failed in four key areas:
1. Overestimated tax revenues.
2. Underestimated the amount of increase in those under age 18 using marijuana.
3. Underestimated the increase in traffic accidents because of marijuana.
4. Underestimated the increase in THC in the workplace.
The drawback that matters the most is the lack of tax revenue from the sale of marijuana. This was the vital factor that got voters and lawmakers on the legalize marijuana bandwagon. In the first month, Colorado pot sales have netted one-third of what the governor projected. The state takes in about $2 million each month from the sale of recreational marijuana. Maybe the tax revenues are there. The mistake might have been trusting former illegal drug dealers to now keep honest books.
Various pothead-blogs have been defending the low tax receipts by pointing out that Colorado law enforcement is savings $12 million per year by not having to deal with marijuana-related drug crimes. They fail to mention the costs that came with making pot legal.
I don't know why there would be any surprised that underage usage would jump or that marijuana related accidents would increase. The rise of THC in the workplace is also a given. When you make a product legal, people are going to use it.
Kevin Sabet is a professor at the University of Florida who directs the Drug Policy Institute. Rolling Stone Magazine labeled him as, "Legalization Enemy No. 1." He recently pointed out that Colorado voters may have been caught-up in a marketing campaign that only leads to a harsh reality:
The multimillion dollar public relations campaign was waged to convince Colorado's voters that legalizing marijuana would be beneficial to the citizens of the state. It only extolled the virtues but it never mentioned that there might be costs. Of course, they might have thought this would happen but never discussed it during their $3 million campaign to spread the message that "pot is safer than beer" and "drug dealers don't ID." They are completely ignoring and are silent about these negative consequences happening now.
One of the most troubling negative consequences has been a string of incidents linked to people eating products containing marijuana. A Colorado man is accused of killing his wife after eating pot candy, a Wyoming college student jumped to his death from a Denver hotel balcony after eating a marijuana cookie purchased at a pot shop, and Colorado hospitals are reporting an increase in visits after children consumed too many pot-laced treats, according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics.
Another problem with these pot-laced edibles is the lack of sanitary standard in their production process. There is a general misconception that marijuana products have been tested-they have not. A study by CannLabs found E. coli, salmonella, bacteria, molds, and pesticides in many of these treats.
I don't think our nation could survive the full legalization of pot or other drugs. There was once a time when anyone could walk into a drugstore and buy a bottle of opium or heroin. Cocaine was just something you used to treat a tooth ache. We didn't have drug crimes because people knew the abuse of these drugs was contrary to biblical values.
The problem with sin is that it has a very progressive and subtle nature. I remember when there were only a few places in this nation where one could go to gamble. Today, this vice has snaked into every state in the union. I imagine that legalized marijuana will follow the same path.
We are seeing a moral collapse on a thousand fronts that will lead us right to Tribulation judgment. We, as believers, need to do our best to combat the forces of darkness. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the Lord will want to know what role we played in combating this disaster.
"Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences" (2 Corinthians 5:9-11).
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