By Andy Koen
DENVER - The most recent study by a law enforcement group
looking at the impact of legal marijuana in our state has just been
released. The findings published in the fourth volume of Legal Marijuana in Colorado, The Impacts
by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) show
marijuana related traffic deaths increased 48 percent since 2013.
Marijuana related emergency room visits and calls to poison control are
also up. The report further notes that Colorado leads the nation in
marijuana consumption among teens and adults.
Proponents of legal
pot say this study is politically biased and that excludes data that
doesn't reflect negatively on marijuana legalization.
Intelligence Analyst Chelsea Clarke is one of the authors of the report. She said traffic fatalities information comes from data recorded in the Federal Accident Reporting System (FARS) and the Colorado Department of Transportation, which submits data for our state. They couple the fatal crashes with coroners reports to see whether drugs or alcohol were in a driver's body at the time of a wreck.
"The number of people killed on our roads each year related to marijuana, that number has just increased each year since legalization," Clarke said.
The data about teen and adult marijuana use comes from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA) and state Suspension and Expulsion records by the Colorado Department of Education.
"Kids are going to school with marijuana products, they're going to school getting high there, showing up high, going on lunch breaks."
The numbers on marijuana related emergency room visit comes the Colorado Hospital Association. However, that data was only available for the years 2013 and 2014.
The Rocky Mountain HIDTA is an umbrella group for narcotics enforcement and its members includes officers from just about every law enforcement jurisdiction in four states: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana.
Supporters of legal marijuana tell us that group is politically biased.
"This report is really laughable," said Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project. "Any college student would probably get an F if they turn this in as a research paper."
He argues the Rocky Mountain HIDTA numbers on traffic fatalities don't account for how slowly the body absorbs THC, the active chemical compound in marijuana.
"Someone might have used marijuana three weeks ago then got into their car three weeks later got hit by someone else and they're calling that a marijuana-related traffic accident," Tvert said.
He also pointed out the numbers on teen marijuana use conflict with a broader statewide study.
"The researchers at SAMSA, when they released that survey, said teen (marijuana) use remained unchanged," Tvert said. "A much larger survey conducted buy Colorado state government has actually found that teen use has not changed."
The Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, released in June by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, found teen use of marijuana remained relatively unchanged.
Still, Clarke said there is no political bias in the report. The facts are just the facts.
"Again, none of this is our own data," she said. "We are very careful to source where it all comes from, any individual can go and pull the same data and look at it for themselves."
Intelligence Analyst Chelsea Clarke is one of the authors of the report. She said traffic fatalities information comes from data recorded in the Federal Accident Reporting System (FARS) and the Colorado Department of Transportation, which submits data for our state. They couple the fatal crashes with coroners reports to see whether drugs or alcohol were in a driver's body at the time of a wreck.
"The number of people killed on our roads each year related to marijuana, that number has just increased each year since legalization," Clarke said.
The data about teen and adult marijuana use comes from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA) and state Suspension and Expulsion records by the Colorado Department of Education.
"Kids are going to school with marijuana products, they're going to school getting high there, showing up high, going on lunch breaks."
The numbers on marijuana related emergency room visit comes the Colorado Hospital Association. However, that data was only available for the years 2013 and 2014.
The Rocky Mountain HIDTA is an umbrella group for narcotics enforcement and its members includes officers from just about every law enforcement jurisdiction in four states: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana.
Supporters of legal marijuana tell us that group is politically biased.
"This report is really laughable," said Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project. "Any college student would probably get an F if they turn this in as a research paper."
He argues the Rocky Mountain HIDTA numbers on traffic fatalities don't account for how slowly the body absorbs THC, the active chemical compound in marijuana.
"Someone might have used marijuana three weeks ago then got into their car three weeks later got hit by someone else and they're calling that a marijuana-related traffic accident," Tvert said.
He also pointed out the numbers on teen marijuana use conflict with a broader statewide study.
"The researchers at SAMSA, when they released that survey, said teen (marijuana) use remained unchanged," Tvert said. "A much larger survey conducted buy Colorado state government has actually found that teen use has not changed."
The Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, released in June by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, found teen use of marijuana remained relatively unchanged.
Still, Clarke said there is no political bias in the report. The facts are just the facts.
"Again, none of this is our own data," she said. "We are very careful to source where it all comes from, any individual can go and pull the same data and look at it for themselves."
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