Marijuana-The Wolf is at the Door by Jamers Rogers, MD

MARIJUANA –

THE WOLF IS AT THE DOOR AND WE MUST ANSWER THE CALL

LOTS OF DATA, THANKS TO COLORADO’S DISCIPLINE

Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA)Topic

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Latest report - 2021

Johnny’s Ambassadors Test up

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA (RMHIDTA)

PUBLISHED ANNUALLY REPORTS EVERY YEAR SINCE 2013

 The purpose of this annual report is to document the impact of the legalization of marijuana for medical and recreational use in Colorado.

(Colorado serves as an experimental lab for the nation to determine the impact of legalizing marijuana.)

 Colorado, there are three distinct timeframes to consider:

 early medical marijuana (20002008)

 medical marijuana commercialization (2009–current)

 recreational marijuana (2013–current).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 Traffic Fatalities & Impaired Driving

Marijuana Use

Public Health

Black Market

Societal Impact

 Marijuana tax revenue represent approximately 0.98% of Colorado’s FY 2020 budget

 66% of local jurisdictions in Colorado have banned medical and recreational marijuana businesses

Traffic Fatalities & Impaired Driving

Since 2013

 traffic deaths, drivers tested positive for marijuana increased 138% while all Colorado traffic deaths increased 29%

 traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana more than doubled from 55 in 2013 to 131 people killed in 2020

 percentage of all Colorado traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana increased from 11% in 2013 to 20% in 2020.

Marijuana Use – Past Month

 12 and older increased 26%, 61% higher than the national average, 3rd in the nation

 18 and older) increased 20%, 62% higher than the national average, 3rd in the nation

 18-25 (college age) increased 10%, 53% higher than the national average, 3rd in the nation.

 12-17 decreased 22%, 39% higher than the national average, 7th in the nation

Public Health – from 2013

 marijuana only exposures increased 185%

 treatment for marijuana use, all ages, decreased 34%

 suicide incidents, toxicology positive, increased from 14%

Black Market

 294 investigations of black market

 168 felony arrests

 5.54 tons of marijuana seized

 86,502 marijuana plants seized

 21 different states the marijuana was destined

 Marijuana seizures reported to the El Paso Intelligence Center in Colorado increased 48%

 174 parcels (2009-2012)

 257 parcels (2013-2020)

JOHNNY STACK AGE

DIED BY SUICIDE, NOV 20, 2019

• He was an incredibly intelligent, funny, charming, handsome young man from a normal suburban family and did normal family things. He had a happy life, a 4.0 GPA with a scholarship to college, and a family who loved him very much. Unfortunately, we live in Colorado, which was the first state to legalize marijuana in 2014, when Johnny was 14 years old.

• Three days before he passed, he came over for dinner. He lived in our condo a couple miles down the street and would often pop in for a home-cooked meal. “I need to tell you that you were right,” he said to me. “Right about what?” I ask.

“Right about the marijuana. You told me weed would hurt my brain, and it’s ruined my mind and my life. You were right all along. I’m sorry, and I love you.”

He died by suicide three days later.