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