Leave it to a government agency to try and make legalization look like the worst thing Colorado could have chosen to do. Regardless of the fact that even the state’s Governor has admitted that he was wrong about legalization, and the countless other reports that have shown the benefits of Amendment 64, a report has been issued by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area or RMHIDTA that paints an entirely different picture.
Their report would have people believing that legalization could have detrimental effects on the community – by not properly representing the facts or possibly even making outright lies. It lays claims like “Marijuana related traffic deaths increased 48%”, “Marijuana related calls to the Rocky Mountain Poison Centers increased 100%”, and “Colorado youth now rank number one in the nation for marijuana use and 74 percent higher than the national average”.
RMHIDTA hopes to distribute the report to states who are looking at legalization initiatives as well as concerned parents. Unfortunately, this is a chance for the government to try and spread their version of events in Colorado – a skewed reality compared to what we’ve been seeing over the last few years. Their claims of marijuana related traffic deaths likely include anyone who has tested positive for cannabis – regardless of whether or not they were actually high when the accident occurred.
Also, we’ve seen countless articles that offer evidence that the number of youths consuming cannabis has not increased alongside legalization – if anything it has, for the most part, remained the same. However, we have to understand that it will take time before the underground market is completely knocked out and marijuana becomes much less accessible to smokers under the age of 21; but the number has definitely not increased in the way they are stating.
“This is a report produced by an organization that campaigned against the initiative to regulate marijuana in Colorado, and its head was a spokesperson and financial donor for that political campaign,” Mason Tvert, director of communication for the Marijuana Policy Project explained to MERRY JANE. “Moreover, it’s an organization who has a vested financial interest in keeping marijuana illegal in as many states as possible.”
It’s unbelievable that in the face of all the benefits we’ve seen – lower unemployment rates, more state revenue going to schools, less arrests and incarcerations – that the government would still try to spread their lies and half truths around. It’s honestly a sad sight – but hopefully the people of the U.S. have learned that they need to do their own research. After all, if the government lied before they can and will lie again – especially on the issue of cannabis.
Likely the alcohol industry is behind this propaganda.