Recreational marijuana is on the ballot in five states this summer, which means little old Colorado has been getting a lot of attention. Latest to visit us and wonder about weed: the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The paper's piece warns that Colorado offers a "cautionary lesson," and it's illustrated with photos of people getting high on Stoner Hill, which is the colloquial name for Commons Park.
Let's review the paper's findings:
- Teens are not smoking more weed
- Pot DUI charges are getting more prevalent and now make up a quarter of all DUI charges. (That surprised me!)
- Edibles are a pain to regulate, but at least you can't have a lethal overdose
- The black market is thriving because weed's still expensive and you can grow it in your garage
- Court filings related to weed have dropped 81 percent
- Hospitality and tourism are scaling back drug tests as they grow more accepting of weed use by employees, but professional drivers might face more scrutiny
The Mall, of course, makes an appearance:
"Anyone who takes a walk down the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver — a mile-long, open-air pedestrian mall — won’t have to look, or sniff, for long before stumbling upon someone using marijuana. The parks, especially those near downtown, are notorious for public pot use."
As usual, legal marijuana is identified as something that attracts homeless people, although so is the state's recent Medicaid revamp.
