A LETTER TO OUR READERS
After the passage of Amendment 64, Gov. Hickenlooper stated that“ Colorado is known for many great things, marijuana should not be one of them.” He went on to say,“ Amendment 64 has the potential to increase the number of children using drugs.” Well governor, I disagree.
Are you saying that you don’ t want Colorado to be known for being a pioneer in the legalization of a plant that has a 10,000 year history without one death being associated with it? Or maybe you don’ t want to be associated with a plant that has shown to be a cure for cancer and has the ability to treat a myriad of diseases and ailments without the addictive qualities and awful side effects of prescription drugs.
For someone who has made a fortune profiting from the alcohol industry don’ t you find this a tad hypocritical? Let’ s take a look at the scorecard shall we?
Alcohol( stats provided by National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence)
‣ Harmful use of alcohol results in the death of 2.5 million people annually, causes illness and injury to millions more, and increasingly affects younger generations and drinkers in developing countries.
‣ 320,000 young people aged 15-29 years die annually, from alcoholrelated causes, resulting in 9 percent of all deaths in that age group.
‣ Alcohol is the world’ s third largest risk factor for disease burden; it is the leading risk factor in the Western Pacific and the Americas and the second largest in Europe.
‣ Nearly 4 percent of all deaths are related to alcohol. Most alcoholrelated deaths result from injuries, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and liver cirrhosis.
Cannabis
‣ Amount of deaths from cannabis in the 10,000 years of its recorded use: ZERO. No credible organization has ever refuted this stat.
‣ In states that have regulated legal use of medical cannabis an average reduction in fatal car accidents decreased by 9 percent from 1999-2009( reported by Time Magazine Dec. 2, 2011).
‣ Youth marijuana usage in Colorado went down 2.8 percent from 1999 to 2011( CDC Report 2012), which is a direct correlation to the legalization of MMJ.
‣ Youth marijuana usage nationally went up 2.3 percent in same time period( same CDC Report).
‣ Colorado’ s youth marijuana usage fell below the national average in 2011 by 22 percent and 23.1 percent in U. S.( same CDC report).
“ The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.”
-Woodrow Wilson
So by legalizing cannabis in Colorado the scorecard shows that we have actually made it safer for our children and our roads. If you were truly serious about our children’ s safety then shouldn’ t you pay attention to the facts?
Respectfully, the reality is that the people have spoken, and unlike you, I’ ve never been prouder to be a Coloradoan.
4 April / May
David Maddalena Editor-in-Chief David @ thcmag. com