There was more bad news for Big Marijuana in Colorado last week. As reported in The Gazette, Coloradans as well as \u201cpot tourists\u201d visiting the state appear to be spending nowhere near as much on marijuana products as they did at the height of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the upshot of the latest pot sales stats released by the Colorado Department of Revenue \u2014 and it reflects a continued, monthslong decline in legal retail marijuana sales statewide.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the erosion of the marijuana market should come as no surprise. In postpandemic Colorado, people no longer have reason to feel confined to their homes or cut off from entertainment. Other, healthier pastimes once again can compete for their recreation dollars, so pot users inevitably spend less time \u2014 and money \u2014 just sitting around getting high.<\/p>\n
Whatever the reason, we\u2019ll take it. What\u2019s bad news for the legalized pot industry is good news for Colorado.<\/p>\n
Yes, it comes with a downside \u2014 declining tax revenue to fund some state and local human-services programs. But then, that\u2019s a potent reminder to policymakers at all levels of government not to force vital public services to rely on such a dubious revenue source.<\/p>\n
If Colorado\u2019s experiment with legal retail pot has taught us anything, it is that its market is unstable even as its toll on society grows. After taking in the ill effects of legalized recreational sales \u2014 from a dramatic spike in traffic fatalities to a surge in mental health crises among youths \u2014 Coloradans\u2019 recent inclination to spend their wages on more essential things is laudable and just plain sensible. All the more so as spiraling inflation eats into their paychecks.<\/p>\n
Legalized pot\u2019s rippling consequences for Colorado bear repeating.<\/p>\n
An analysis of 26,000 impaired-driving cases in Colorado in 2019 showed that 45% of drivers tested positive for more than one substance, according to the state\u2019s Division of Criminal Justice. The most common combination was alcohol and pot.<\/p>\n
Consider that in light of some other sobering statistics: Fatalities on Colorado roads have soared 50% since 2011, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation, and over a third of those involved drivers impaired by alcohol, drugs or both. Just since 2019, there has been a 44% increase in the number of fatalities in Colorado involving an impaired driver, according to data.<\/p>\n
And Luke Niforatos, executive vice president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, reminded our readers this year that marijuana use is linked to social ills such as crime and mental illness.<\/p>\n
He cites a 2019 study of Colorado medical and recreational dispensaries that found both types of storefronts were associated with statistically significant increases in rates of neighborhood crime. He noted today\u2019s high-potency pot also contributes to psychosis, and research shows pot use beginning earlier in life can play a role in the emergence of violent behavior.<\/p>\n
In that light, it\u2019s hard to pity the state\u2019s pot peddlers as their sales ebb.<\/p>\n
The development also might give second thoughts to those Colorado communities still considering joining the folly of allowing legal retail pot shops. They now might want to ponder if the stigma and hazards of pot sales and deliveries is worth it considering the product\u2019s only real selling point for policymakers \u2014 tax revenue to fund government services \u2014 seems to hold ever less promise.<\/p>\n
the gazette editorial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n