Is there a guilty party in this problem? Who deserves the blame? Does the benefit of increased tax revenue outweigh the deaths and other criminal activity or the influx of pot tourism where people are sleeping in the streets and claiming social welfare benefits? Are employers having issues with quality hiring or quality of work output by their workers? How about the high students getting a good education or even attending class? Is Colorado able to compete with other states in the realm of business and commerce?
Report: Colorado Pot an ‘Epidemic’ Among Kids
Sure, we wanted it legalized, but didn’t think kids would want any!
The results are in, and according to a report by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Colorado children are using marijuana at a much higher rate than ever before and are experiencing an increase in hospital visits, school suspensions, and even death.
It’s gotten so bad, the co-founder of an advocacy group called Smart Colorado has called child and teen use of marijuana an “epidemic.”
“Kids have no idea how dangerous or harmful Colorado’s pot is,” Diane Carlson said.
Here are the numbers in the report via CBS Denver: 29 percent increase in emergency room visits, and a 38 percent increase in hospitalizations during retail marijuana’s first year. Eleven percent of Colorado’s 12 to 17 year-olds use pot — 56 percent higher than the national average. It also cites a 40 percent increase in drug-related suspensions and expulsions — the vast majority from marijuana. The study cites a significant increase in marijuana-related traffic deaths.
The culprit according to Carlson? Its commercialization, she said, adding, “Marijuana might have been legalized in our state; it did not have to mean massive commercialization and promotion of marijuana use.”
Some parents who use medical marijuana have previously complained that its packaging could look attractive to children. In one instance, a mother complained that her hash dose called “Bruce Banner Wax” was contained inside of what looked like a colorful rubber bouncy ball from a vending machine. This was brought to the maker Boulder Pharma’s attention and they pulled the product from their shelves.
Other parents are complaining about the influx of marijuana ads popping up all over the state and how that intensive marketing is affecting children. One parent told CBS Denver that he came home to find his 13-year-old son unconscious, gray, no pulse, and no breathing after what he says was a marijuana overdose. Luckily, he was resuscitated by his father.
And high school-aged users and dealers are balking at the numbers that indicate 60 percent of students use marijuana regularly at certain schools, saying that number is “way low.”
Carlson agrees, saying her organization has heard from “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of parents throughout the state” with stories like this father and son.
never in 40 yrs have i ever had to go to a hospital for using nor i have i ever heard of pot induced death this is bull
Thanks for the comment, yet I would submit you may clearly have better judgement as a user than many others.