ADVOCATES for legalizing recreational marijuana argue that shift shouldn't upset people, claiming the drug's use differs little from alcohol consumption. A new report from Colorado suggests that's only true if people are fine with drunk driving and public intoxication of school children.
The impact of those changes can be seen not just in marijuana sales, but also in lives lost and harmed. In 2014, the report notes, there was a 32 percent increase in marijuana-related traffic deaths in Colorado compared with 2013. Marijuana-related traffic deaths increased 92 percent from 2010 to 2014.
In contrast, the increase in all traffic deaths during that time period was just 8 percent. Had it not been for marijuana-related traffic deaths, the state would have experienced a decline in traffic fatalities.
Approximately 20 percent of traffic deaths were marijuana-related in 2014, a figure that has doubled in five years. And that may understate the impact of marijuana in traffic accidents, since drivers who are intoxicated on both alcohol and marijuana are normally tested only for alcohol.
In 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated the total economic costs for a vehicle fatality was more than $1.3 million, once you include property damage, medical, insurance, productivity and other considerations. The cost of driving under the influence was estimated at $10,270 per instance.
In other words, driving under the influence of marijuana has major impacts — both moral and economic.
There's reason to think this problem won't go away soon. According to the report, an estimated 485,000 Colorado adults regularly use marijuana. Adults who consume marijuana almost daily make up the top 21.8 percent of that population — but they account for 66.9 percent of the demand for marijuana.
A law that allows more than 100,000 people to consume marijuana daily is going to inevitably lead to many people driving under the influence and increasing the risk to all other citizens on the road.
In 2014, when retail marijuana was unleashed, there was a 38 percent increase in the number of marijuana-related hospitalizations in Colorado. Since 2010, marijuana-related hospitalizations have increased 90 percent.
The report also notes disturbing trends among youth, who are supposedly barred from buying the drug under Colorado law. The report found 11.16 percent of Colorado kids ages 12 to 17 were considered current marijuana users in 2013. That was 56 percent higher than the national average.
In public schools, drug-related suspensions/expulsions increased 40 percent in Colorado between the 2008-09 school year and the 2013-14 school year with the vast majority being marijuana violations.
Colorado was in the top three states ranked by the share of teenagers reporting drug use in the past month in a 2013 survey. By comparison, Oklahoma ranked in the bottom seven states, despite this state's reputation for drug problems.
Proponents claim marijuana legalization merely shifts existing drug use into the open. But Colorado's experience shows that legalization facilitates increased drug consumption in ways that place others' lives at risk and reduce everyone's quality of life. Youth crossed with tragedy are certain outcomes of Colorado's poor decision, and “individual freedoms” will provide little solace to those who suffer the consequences.
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