With Arizona voters deciding on whether to legalize recreational marijuana this election, 12 News turned to Colorado as an example of what passing Proposition 205 could mean for the state.
Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012. And Colorado was the first state to begin selling to the public – commercial sales started on January 2014.
In Colorado, and under Arizona’s proposed law, adults 21 years and older can purchase, possess and grow small quantities of marijuana.
Colorado’s Pot Czar Andrew Freedman says it’s too soon to tell if the long-term benefits of legalized marijuana will outweigh the drawbacks. But we can share what they have learned so far.
Marijuana and the economy
A recent study by the Marijuana Policy Group said that legal pot has had a $2.4 billion impact in Colorado. MPG is a Denver-based research firm that consults on marijuana policy.
In 2015, the industry created over 18,000 new jobs and netted $121 million in taxes (from $996 million in sales), the study said.
Freedman says the marijuana is a billion-dollar industry for Colorado, but it only accounts for one-third of one percent of the state’s $300 billion economy.
While experts believe the growth of the economy will slow over the next five years, it is on pace to pass Colorado’s craft brewing industry in value and collect more taxes than cigarettes by 2020.
Marijuana and education
Arizona and Colorado rank among the lowest states in the nation for education spending. One of the main arguments for legalizing recreational marijuana in both states was the additional funding the industry would bring to schools.
In Arizona, Prop 205 says that after of the cost of maintaining the marijuana governing body, 80 percent of the remaining revenue would go to school districts and charters schools. Money for schools would be distributed based on the number of students, and would be split between paying for full-day kindergarten and overhead (cost of construction, teacher salaries, etc.).
In Colorado, the first $40 million of excise tax collected each year goes into the BEST Fund, which is used for school construction and renovation. In addition, the Colorado Department of Education receives $2,500,000 annually to address behavior issues in schools.
The process hasn’t been without hiccups in Colorado. Some Denver schools missed on out revenue funding from legalized marijuana, but that was because they never applied for any of the money available to Colorado schools.
Marijuana and public health
When it comes to legalization, two major concerns often come up: children’s exposure to marijuana and increased incidents of driving under the influence.
The Colorado State Patrol tracked marijuana as a suspected intoxicant for the first time in 2014. Their data shows the number of drivers suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana actually dropped from 2014 to 2015.
Some have cited a 62 percent increase of marijuana related traffic deaths as cause for concern, but while that statistic is technically true, it doesn’t point to marijuana as the cause of the death, just that the person who died tested positive for THC.
THC has been increasingly found in the blood of those involved with traffic accidents as legalization spreads, but experts say the effects of pot use on drivers is not well researched or understood.
The number of children treated for marijuana poisoning has increased since its legalization in Colorado, according to researchers at the University of Colorado. Children’s hospitals in the state say the number of marijuana-related visits doubled after 2014 and regional poison center have received five times more pediatric cases.
Much of the concern for children rests around edibles, which some argue are indistinguishable from foods and candies that don’t contain THC.
The state recently passed legislation requiring specific labeling on THC products. In addition, those products cannot be labeled as candy. Some dispensaries have also taken additional steps in their packaging and labeling.
Children are most at risk of stumbling across products in the home. The above-mentioned study found that most kids who ingested THC products got access from a family member, babysitter or friend.
Marijuana and real estate
In Denver, the marijuana industry accounted for more than 35 percent of newly occupied and constructed industrial real estate between 2009 and 2014.
Regulations around where growers can set up mean most of these locations are concentrated in just a few areas of the city, as well as in specific areas around the state.
Local experts say this growth has driven up industrial real estate values from $40 to $50 per square foot to $100 a square foot.
Marijuana and tourism
In 2012, Colorado and Washington state voters became the first in the country to say yes to legalizing recreational marijuana. Colorado was the first to sell recreation marijuana on January 2, 2014.
This meant the state was uniquely poised to bring in out of state visitors interested in taking advantage of the new industry. In 2014, 44 percent of all sale were made by out-of-state visitors, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Two other states – Oregon and Alaska – as well as the District of Columbia have voted to legalize since. And five states have it on the ballot for 2016: Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada.
This means tourism sales are likely to drop in Colorado, and be lower in Arizona generally, as more states legalize recreational marijuana.