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Marijuana Legalization in Colorado 2 Years Later

Marijuana Legalization in Colorado 2 Years Later

Politics

Marijuana Legalization in Colorado 2 Years Later

Marijuana Legalization in Colorado: 2 Years Later

As debates about marijuana legalization and the war on drugs continue tearing through the nation, cannabis naysayers keep trying to drum up fear about the magical herb so beloved here at Green Rush Daily.

Anti-pot pundits try to make it sound like legalizing marijuana will somehow be the end of the world.

They daydream about marijuana overdoses and drone on and on about all sorts of vague dangers (although they never want to talk about the fact that most of the real dangers pot smokers face are the laws and cops themselves!).

The problem with all these arguments is that they’re not really backed up by any good evidence. In fact, legalizing marijuana has so far proven to be more beneficial than anyone could’ve imagined.

Not only does it make it super easy for stoners like you to get your hands on all sorts of bomb-ass weed strains, products, and goods, it’s also improving a ton of other things from limiting how much cops can f*ck people’s lives up to improving schools and helping save local economies.

Marijuana Legalization in Colorado 2 Years Later

Since it’s been almost 2 years since Colorado started selling recreational pot, it’s one of the best examples of what actually happens when marijuana is legalized. Here’s a rundown of what’s been going on in Colorado thanks to legal cannabis:

  • Marijuana possession arrests have dropped more than 84% since 2010. That’s literally thousands of people who won’t get sucked into the U.S.’s bullsh*t law enforcement monster and who won’t have their lives ruined for doing something that most Americans support.

Marijuana Legalization in Colorado 2 Years Later

  • Violent crime and property crime in Denver have both decreased by nearly 10%.
  • The state collected $44 million of weed tax revenue in 2014 and is on pace to rake in $125 million this year. Since huge portions of marijuana tax money are set aside to improve schools and other community services, it looks like the anti-pot pundits are wrong: marijuana isn’t destroying neighborhoods, it’s building them up.
  • Colorado’s economy is booming since weed became legal. It has the fastest growing economy in the U.S. and its unemployment rates are at a 6-year low. Jack Strauss, an economist at the University of Denver, estimates that just two dispensaries in Denver created 280 jobs and $30 million of total output.
  • To bring all this together, legal marijuana is producing all sorts of green for all sorts of people: the state gets taxes, people get jobs that pay well, and at the end of the day, everyone gets the most important green of all—that sticky green!

 

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