Government
Kids in Colorado Don’t Like Weed – Huge Decline in Youth Cannabis Use Dispels Another Reefer Madness Myth
Legalization does not lead to higher cannabis use among youths, as proven for the hundreds time.
Huge Decline In Youth Cannabis Use In Colorado Proves That The Kids Are Alright
Colorado was the first state in the United States to legalize marijuana, by passing Amendment 64 way back in December 2014.
Two years later, state-licensed sales started and they welcomed marijuana tourism with open arms. They have since earned the reputation of being one of the most progressive states in the country, helping to pave the way for a billion-dollar cannabis industry in the country. It would then be easy to assume that even young kids start using cannabis early, right?
Well for those who are worried about youth cannabis use, stating that legalized marijuana makes it all too easy for teens to access the drug, recent statistics prove otherwise.
Data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDHPE) have shown that young people who have admitted to using cannabis had a dramatic decline from 2020 through 2021, says a report from Marijuana Moment. In fact, there has been a 35% drop among teens who report cannabis use in the last 30 days, as well as a 22% decrease in teens that said they can easily access the drug.
“These data are consistent with other surveys showing that marijuana regulation policies can be implemented in a manner that provides access for adults while simultaneously limiting youth access and misuse,” says Paul Armetano, NORML Deputy Director. “These findings ought to reassure lawmakers and others that cannabis access for adults can be regulated in ways that do not inadvertently impact young people’s habits.”
In addition, a survey conducted by researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus shared similar results: a 35% drop among teens using marijuana. The poll, called the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, reflected decreases in actual use, perceived access, and driving while under the influence.
“I’m delighted to see that youth usage numbers are going down,” says Truman Bradley, the Marijuana Industry Group’s executive director. “Thirteen point three percent of youth admitted to using cannabis in the last 30 days, which is a decrease from 20.6% in the prior survey. That’s a 35% drop. That is a huge number,” he said.
There are numerous studies that point to it, and we can’t deny the facts.
Another larger study from 2019, which was published in JAMA Pediatrics, involved surveying over 1.4 million high school students. Researchers analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey from 1993 and 2017, then compared cannabis consumption rates across all states with consumption rates among teens in states with legal marijuana policies in place – either for recreational or legal purposes.
They found that legalization once again indeed helped to curb cannabis consumption among teenagers.
“The general takeaway from our research is that there is no evidence that legalization of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes has led to increased teen use,” explains D. Mark Anderson, PhD, lead author and associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University. “This is now one of a handful of studies that all reach the conclusion of no effect on teen marijuana consumption,” he adds.
Anderson goes on to explain that while the researchers were not able to identify the exact reasons why cannabis use has gone down, they pointed to previous studies which suggest doing so makes it harder for teenagers to access marijuana from a dispensary following regulation compared to getting it from the black market before it was legalized.
Why Cannabis Regulation Is Key
Despite what many people think, if you really aren’t doing the research, it’s far too easy to say that legalizing marijuana will become a major public health problem. The truth is that, when we don’t make marijuana legal or incorrectly regulate it, kids can easily access them through the black market.
Sure, there is a risk in regulating – but no regulation makes the risk much worse. Even if states have different regulations and public policy, it’s up to the state governments to implement the right programs to increase protection for the youth while ensuring that patients as well as adult recreational users can still get what they need.
There are also studies showing that even recreational laws have been linked with a decline in teen use.
Clearly, regulation leads to a reduction in easy supply since dealers have been replaced by legitimate dispensaries which would require identification and proof of age in order to buy. For people to sell to minors would translate to a serious crime, making it a much riskier act. Besides, when states regulate marijuana, they do this to enable adults to acquire it legally while preventing minors from accessing it.
In addition, there’s also the possibility that more parents open up about drug use talks with their children when the place they reside in starts legalizing drugs. Kids end up becoming more aware of the harms of early use, and it also can lead to more supervision among children and parents. These discussions may not have been in place when the drug isn’t regulated since parents don’t see an immediate need to do so urgently.
When teenagers enter adulthood and can legally access marijuana, it’s much safer for them compared to alcohol and other illicit substances. Cannabis legalization has been linked with a decline in drunk driving, opioid addiction rates, violent crime, and much more – all of which show that it could indeed benefit society as a whole.
Conclusion
The studies all point to the same facts: regulating marijuana will help us make sure that the kids are alright.
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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