Colorado Pot Industry Essay

In America there are a lot of problems, ranging from violence to obesity. A growing concern of many Americans is the drug “epidemic” with the growth of the war on drugs. Marijuana, throughout history, has been demonized and illegalized, however now a newfound acceptance of the drug is growing rapidly with some states fully legalizing the drug recreationally, and others medically.

Marijuana in the United States has been a big issue for decades dating back to when it was first made illegal in 1937. Using scare tactics, propaganda, and false facts, the government decided to classify the plant as a schedule one drug along with substances such as ecstasy, LSD, and heroin. Marijuana has since become a more common and socially acceptable (Not by the government) drug in recent years. This past year Colorado, Washington, and Oregon had decided to vote on the issue of legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Focusing on Colorado, Amendment 64 passed on November 6th, 2012 which would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of the plant.

The legalization of Marijuana in Colorado has been great news for every user over the age of 21, but has anyone bother to ask the question “What negative impact will this decision have on the children of Colorado”? The legalization of marijuana will increase the risk of use by adolescents and teenagers in our schools. We are sending a message to our younger generation that it’s ok to get “high”. A quote by –Nine-Inch Nails “Kind of like a cloud I was up, way up in the sky and I was feeling some feelings you wouldn’t believe… I decided I was never coming down.” (1)

Marijuana is still considered illegal under the Controlled Substance Act enacted by the federal government, and the state has legalized the medicinally and recreational use of the substance throughout the state’s borders. Because of the supremacy clause of the constitution, Congress has occupied the field and the federal laws governing marijuana use, sale and manufacturing supersedes the state laws. Obviously, this is a point of concern for any person who would want to start a business in Colorado. While the state police will not arrest anyone because of the state laws; it is doubtful that the average business owner would be willing to be at risk at any time of a federal agent’s

There has been major news forming around the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. Medical marijuana has been effective in Colorado since 2000. Now marijuana is legal for recreational use for people 21 and up. Many rules and regulations follow the legalization of marijuana. Many people of Colorado fear this legalization, where others are totally for it and think it will help boost Colorado’s economy. I have found many

Christopher Ingraham looks into marijuana’s first year as a business industry in “Colorado’s Legal Weed Market”. In Colorado’s first year of legalization, their recreational dispensaries brought in an estimated $700 million in sales and $63 million in tax revenue (Ingraham). Katie Rucke reports that nearly 10,000 new job opportunities have arisen in “Six Months In, How Has Marijuana Legalization Treated Colorado?” The state’s unemployment rate has dropped down to 6%, one of the lowest rates in the nation, and the lowest it has been in the state since the recession (Rucke). Many jobs created by the

The legalization of marijuana for recreational usage could may be a new trend in America but the Federal government will likely oppose usage through the end of time. The Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) stance is that marijuana is an illegal drug and that using this drug whether for medicinal or recreational purposes is illegal. I chose this topic to research because of awareness bright to light prior to the recent elections. Until researching this topic, I was unaware that marijuana usage is legal in some states and that other states were pushing legislation to get

The effect on crime seems to have been as one would predict. Colorado’s authorities reckon licensed sales—about 90 tonnes a year—now meet 70% of total estimated demand, with much of the rest covered by a “grey” market of legally home-grown pot illegally sold. In Washington licensed sales accounted for only about 30% of the market in 2014, according to Roger Roffman of the University of Washington. Washington’s large, untaxed and rather wild-west “medical” marijuana market accounts for a lot of the rest. Still, most agree that Colorado’s lower prices have done more to make life hard for organised crime (Estabrook, 2016).

Colorado is a great example of the benefits of legalization and the profit to be made for recreational use. A mature marijuana industry could generate up to $28 billion in tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments. The U.S. market for legal, recreational, cannabis is projected to more than triple between 2016 and 2025, with medical marijuana sales jumping from $4.7 billion to $13.2 billion during that period. In 2016, medical marijuana sales accounted for 71 percent of the cannabis market, but that share is expected to decline to 55 percent as the number of recreational users grows (Mantel, 612). This type of money happening across the states could help put a dent in the National debt, help fund medical research, fund schools, and rehab

According to Forbes, marijuana is the fastest-growing industry in the U.S. The financial benefit for the government is massive with taxation alone. After legalizing marijuana in Oakland, California, researchers from the The ArcView group found that the U.S market for legal cannabis grew 74 percent of legal marijuana grew in 2014 to 2.7 billion dollars, up from 1.5 billion dollars in 2013. This according to the Health and Wellness Resource Center also projects a strong year for legal marijuana in 2015 and projects 32 percent growth in the market. Four states Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon have legalized retail marijuana. Washington, D.C. voters also legalized recreational marijuana use, but sales c remain banned. Twenty-three states have legalized medical cannabis. Still,

Marijuana’s market place not only is becoming considerably bigger every day ,but also it is opening the way to other cannabis business related. For example, the video showed some entrepreneurs who wanted to build a chain of pot called “WeGrow” in California and in other 15 states which adopted the medical marijuana laws in the recent years.

Within the last couple of years, the statewide governments of Colorado and Washington have made strides in changing decade old policies that have place many men and women into federal prisons over petty marijuana charges. In 2014, retail stores opened in both Washington and Colorado, allowing anyone over the age of 21 could purchase marijuana in a vast amount of forms varying from buds, seeds, drinks, and even edibles amongst many more options. This change in the previous policy has shown many benefits, not only to the medical aspect of the dilemma, but also improvements to the economy in creating different opportunities for different retailers and also growers of the plant.

Colorado legalized medical and recreational use of marijuana. Charlotte Figi was a three month old baby when she had her first seizure, as time went on they progressed and came more often lasting about 3-4 hours. She was hospitalized many times and her parents had to prepare for the possibility the these seizures she was have could kill her. The seizures she was having is called grand mal seizures, she was having about 300 of them every week, after a while of this she lost the ability to walk, talk and eat. Charlotte had some very serious seizures that sometimes made her heart stop. The doctors didn’t know what to do for the little girl any more so they suggested putting her in a medical induced coma for a little to giver her body a rest. Charlotte's father did like this idea and went and did a little research for himself. He found a video online about a boy who went through the same thing Charlotte was. He found that the boy was controlling his seizures by smoking medical marijuana. Charlotte's mom and dad decided to give it a go. They found the Stanley brothers, one of colorado’s biggest marijuana growers and dispensaries. At the time the 6 brothers were crossbreeding a strain of marijuana low in THC the chemical in marijuana that’s psychoactive and high in CBD a chemical in marijuana that has medical benefits and no psychoactive properties. Paige Figi Charlotte’s mom was the first person to give her daughter cannabis oil and after the first time her seizures stopped for 7 days. Charlotte continues to use cannabis oil as her treatment to this day. She only has seizures 2-3 times a month and can walk, talk, and eat by herself now. (Young) Kristen Courtney was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at 16 which quickly turned into an autoimmune disorder that left her bedridden for four years. She had enough one day and started juicing raw cannabis and after a month, she

At first glance the legalization of recreational marijuana appears to be fine. In fact, since legalization in Colorado, thousands of new jobs have become available bringing the state $135 million (Miller). But the costs to start a new business in the pot industry are tremendous, with equipment costing anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 (Dickson). This is not including growing licenses, which

Since some states have legalized not only medical marijuana, but legalized the use of marijuana recreationally, the legal weed industry has been one of the fastest growing industries the United States has seen (Diehm & Hall, 2013). ArcView group, researchers from a firm based in California, found that there was a seventy four percent increase in the legal marijuana market from 1.5 billion in 2013 to 2.7 billion in 2014 (Ferner, 2014). Researchers collected data from medical and recreational vendors in states were marijuana was made legal. The same study predicted another thirty two percent increase in 2015 (Ferner, 2014). Over 1.5 million people legally bought marijuana from various