Colorado facing big problems after legalizing recreational marijuana in 2013

Despite lofty promises from the marijuana industry, legalizing recreational marijuana has been detrimental to Colorado.

     

A recent conference in the Phoenix area, “Legalized Marijuana: The Unintended Consequences,” organized by MATFORCE and Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, highlighted the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana. One of the sessions at the conference focused specifically on the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana in Colorado.

For this week’s 5 Minutes for Families, I wanted to outline some of the problems Colorado is facing after legalizing recreational marijuana in 2013.

  

Increase in Marijuana-Related Traffic Deaths:

·  Marijuana-related traffic deaths when a driver was positive for marijuana more than doubled

 from 55 deaths in 2013 to 123 deaths in 2016. 

·  Marijuana-related traffic deaths increased by 66%

 in the four-year average (2013-2016) since legalizing recreational marijuana compared to three-year average (2009-2012) prior to legalization.

·  In 2009, 9% of all traffic fatalities in Colorado involved operators testing positive for marijuana. By 2016, the number doubled to 20%.

·  Marijuana, as a percent of all Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol/Driving Under the Influence of Drugs cases is increasing since legalization: 12.2% (2014), 13.4% (2015), and 17.2% (2016)

.

Increase in Youth Marijuana Use:

·  Since Colorado legalized marijuana the youth past month marijuana use increased by 20%

 in the two-year average (2013-2014) compared to the two-year average prior to legalization (2011-2012).

·  The latest 2014-2015 results show that Colorado youth ranked #1 in the nation for past month marijuana use

.

·  Colorado youth past month marijuana use for 2014-2015 was 55% higher

 than the national average, compared to 39% higher in 2011-2012.

·  Marijuana offenses in Colorado elementary and high schools have increased

since legalization: 1,766 (2012), 1,980 (2013), and 2,363 (2014). 

Increase in Marijuana-Related Health Emergencies:

·  The Colorado Emergency Department visits per year related to marijuana has increased

: 8,197 (2011), 9,982 (2012), 14,148 (2013), and 18,255 (2014).

·  The number of hospitalizations related to marijuana have increased dramatically

: 6,305 (2011), 6,715 (2012), 8,272 (2013), and 11,439 (2014). 

·  Average number of marijuana only exposures reported to Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center increased

 from 43 (2009-2012) to 134 (2013-2016) after legalization. 

o    The number of marijuana-related poison control calls involving children under 9 years of age

increased 206% post-legalization: 16 (2012), 26 (2013), 44 (2014), and 49 (2015).

·  Children’s Hospital Colorado reported 1 marijuana ingestion among children

under 9 years old in 2009 compared to 16 in 2015.

·  Percentage of Colorado adolescent suicide victims positive for marijuana

 has increased post legalization: 13.5% (2006-2008), 13.8% (2009-2011), and 16% (2012-2014). 

Increase in Marijuana Culture:

·  As of June 2017, Colorado has 491 retail marijuana stores

 compared to 392 Starbucks and 208 McDonald’s.

·  The percentage of adults 26 years of age and older using marijuana is steadily increasing each year since legalization: 7.63% (2011-2012), 10.13% (2012-2013), 12.45% (2013-2014), and 14.65% (2014-2015).  

·  In 2012, out-of-state residents accounted for 78 of every 100,000 emergency room visits due to marijuana-related symptoms. By 2014, the number increased to 163 of every 100,000 visits, a 109% increase.   

·  Average pounds of black-market Colorado marijuana seized per year by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service

 has increase 914% post legalization, from 97 pounds (2009-2012) to 984 pounds (2013-2016).

·  Arrests/citations for unlawful public display or consumption of marijuana in Denver

 has increased from 184 in 2013 to 752 in 2015.

·  Legalization of marijuana may have contributed to increase of homelessness in Denver, from 28,000 accommodations per month in 2012 to 42,000 accommodations per month in November 2015. 

The above numbers make clear that legalizing recreational marijuana is bad public policy. It might please marijuana users and fatten the wallet of the marijuana industry, but it puts families and children at risk. To be sure, Colorado has benefitted from tax revenues from the medical and recreational marijuana industry, but is .8% of the state’s budget worth all the harm it has caused its citizens.

For additional reports tracking the consequences of legalizing marijuana in Colorado see Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

(RMHIDTA).

Affordable Care Act Scam named Better Business Bureau’s 2013 ‘Scam of the Year’

The Better Business Bureau announced its “Top 10 Scams of 2013.” Leading the pack, believe it or not, was the Affordable Care Act Scam, which most would refer to as the Obamacare scam.

As much as he may want to differ, CBS late night host David Letterman didn’t invent the idea of a “top 10 list” — it’s been around for a long time, and that includes the 102 year-old Better Business Bureau, which has published a top 10 scam report for years.

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SHOCKING EVIDENCE OF INCOMPETENCE IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Allen West presents this very short video which will make you realize just how frightenlingly incompetent this administration really is!!

Obama's Top 10 Constitutional Violations Of 2013

Top 10 Conservatives of 2013

Do you agree?

TOP 10 CONSERVATIVES - 2013

Trading places

White House: Only 1.1 Million Have Signed Up for Obamacare …5 Million Have Lost Their Plans

In the REAL world...

Let’s just take a real-world example. An uninsured 31-year-old male living in Los Angeles and earning a salary of $32,000 would only qualify for $1 per month in subsidies through Obamacare, according to a search on the California exchange. Because he is 31, he wouldn’t be eligible for cheaper catastrophic insurance. Thus, the most inexpensive plan available to him would be a “bronze” L.A. Care plan costing $178 per month, or $2,136 per year, with a $5,000 annual deductible.

If he chooses to remain uninsured, he’ll be subject to the mandate of 1 percent above the tax filing threshold, meaning around $220.

In contrast, let’s say there is a 31-year-old male in California who earns $100,000 per year. He had insurance through United Healthcare, but his plan was canceled once the insurer decided to leave the California market. Under the HHS rule change, he would have the option of purchasing a plan for $148 per month, or about 17 percent less than the lowest option available to the man earning less than a third of his income. Additionally, the higher-income individual would have the option of skipping insurance altogether without being subject to a fine.

***

The way it treats almost everyone else is unfair: 

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"This is the first time a government insider has gone on record challenging the administration's insistence that there were no worrisome security concerns."

"Teresa Fryer, the chief information security officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), revealed the findings when she was interviewed Tuesday behind closed doors by House Oversight Committee officials..."

Security bombshell #1:

Details are not being made public for security reasons but Fryer testified that one vulnerability in the system was discovered during testing last week related to an incident reported in November. She says that as a result, the government has shut down functionality in the vulnerable part of the system. Fryer said the other high-risk finding was discovered Monday.

Security bombshell #2:

In another security bombshell, Fryer told congressional interviewers that she explicitly recommended denial of the website’s Authority to Operate (ATO), but was overruled by her superiors. The website was rolled out amid warnings Fryer said she gave both verbally and in a briefing that disclosed “high risks” and possible exposure to “attacks”.

Fryer also said that she refused to put her name on a letter recommending a temporary ATO be granted for six months while the issues were sorted out.

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Ten Broken Obamacare Promises

Are you mad, yet?

Since the passage of Obamacare in 2010, many of the President’s famous promises have been routinely broken. As he so ironically threatened in 2009, “If you misrepresent what’s in this plan, we will call you out.

State can seize your assets to pay for care after you’re forced into Medicaid by Obamacare

The fact that this is being treated with seriousness at Kos is an indication of how large a liability it could be for this government program. Washington is scrambling to change the law. No doubt other states will start looking at their implementation of this part of Obamacare. But there will be people caught unaware that their houses effectively belong to the government because the government forced them into Medicaid coverage.

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5 myths about the future of Obamacare

This post is written by Monkey Cage contributor Eric M. Patashnik, professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia, and Julian E. Zelizer, the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.

But what do we really know about the dynamics of “policy entrenchment”— that is, whether programs survive after Congress creates them?

I found the above article within this larger one from the blog of the American Enterprise Institute: What we learned about Obamacare today: Dec 17, 2013

HHS threatens to throw non-complying plans off the exchanges

"What happened on Thursday... will stand as one of the most lawless acts yet committed by this administration"

"Why is our government doing this to us?"

Good question.

"I’m amazed Obama’s at 40 anywhere..."

The Three Failed Promises of ObamaCare

Critics of the law should not take too much solace from the law’s many opening glitches. Such an approach can be all too easily turned back by competent computer programmers. A better argument is that bloated and inefficient government lacks the capacity to accomplish what its proponents claim it can do. Opponents of ObamaCare need to make the case based on how much ObamaCare costs those who are trying to get care, how it limits their choices, and how it drives up deficits. Otherwise, Democrats will trump their arguments by highlighting every individual who got a check. And history has shown that check distribution can be a very powerful argument.

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Survey: The more practicing physicians learn about Obamacare, the more they dislike it and want to start over

Some pretty devastatingly negative results about Obamacare from a November 8-12 survey of 3,072 practicing physicians in all 50 states, and reported this week by the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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If millions of families have to cut these things to afford Obamacare, what do you think that will do to our economy?

Heritage Foundation: See Everything This Mom's Cutting to Pay for Obamacare

Here are all the cuts they’ve come up with so far:

• Stop paying the extra payment on my mortgage: $100/month
• Stop eating out: $150/month
• Don’t go to the movies: $36/month
• Switch to getting a haircut every other month: $15/month
• Stop getting manicures: $40/month
• Stop monthly charitable donations to Wounded Warrior and Habitat for Humanity: $70/month
• Stop saving for an annual anniversary getaway: $60/month
• No Christmas gifts to extended family: $40/month
• Quit buying beef at the grocery store: $100/month
• Teeth cleaning only once per year: $30/month
• Cancel all magazine/newspaper subscriptions: at least $30/month
• Cut DISH service to cheaper plan: $50/month
• Cancel land line phone service: $70/month

Hidden Source Code in ObamaCare

THIS VIDEO REVEALS THE REASON THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT BE IN CHARGE OF YOUR HEALTHCARE:



SOURCE: Western Center for Journalism

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services:
Understanding HIPAA Privacy

4 cyber security experts concur: Obamacare website dangerous for Americans to use!

Healthcare.gov ‘may already have been compromised,’ security expert says

Rubin called for a security review of the site, but stopped short of calling for a complete tear down and rebuild of the healthcare.gov site. Others were less cautious.

“You can bolt a metal door on to make a house better, but if the foundation is bad. . .” Kennedy said.

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Hearing: Security Flaws in Obamacare Website Endanger Americans

Kennedy demonstrated an attack in the hearing room, showing how on Finder.Healthcare.gov a hacker could breach into a computer, monitor its webcam, and steal passwords.

Hackers from Russia or China could “absolutely” breach the online marketplace, he said.

The problems could only get worse since the president’s team is trying to fix the website while it is still up and running.

Morgan Wright, a cyber terrorism expert and CEO of Crowd Sourced Investigations, LLC., said attempting to fix one line of code could open up a “Pandora’s box.”

“You create an unintended series of cascading events you have no control over because you don’t have a grasp of what the code is actually doing,” he said. “You think you’ve changed one thing, by doing that you’ve opened up a Pandora’s box of vulnerabilities on the other side.”

Kennedy said he has never seen anything like it.

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Hugh Hewitt lays out the cure for Obamacare!

THE CURE FOR OBAMACARE:

From Hugh Hewitt:

I want to put out an additional reform – at least in concept. It has to do with FDA certification of pharmaceuticals and medical devices:

“The Cure for Obamacare: The Widely Accepted Alternative and a New Idea to Go with It” By Clark S. Judge"

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Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you

'Fairy Tale' Continues as Obama Proposes Extralegal Obamacare Fix:

Obama's proposal is an extra-legal solution to a big problem for millions of Americans around the country.

"I don't see within the law how they can do this administratively," said Speaker John Boehner in a press conference on Capitol Hill. "No one can identify anything the president could do administratively to keep his pledge that would be both legal and effective."

The proposed White House fix so that Obama can honor his commitment is also likely to create more problems and to further distrust the American people have for this administration, which makes law based on what it chooses to enforce while sidestepping the constitutional process that is in place.

Indeed, there's another problem. As Texas senator Ted Cruz says, the president cannot fix an unfixable law. "We cannot 'fix' Obamacare. The damage has been done, as millions of Americans have already been made to pay higher premiums and lose their jobs, wages, and health care plans," Cruz said today.

President Clinton famously dismissed Obama's candidacy for president of the United States by saying, "Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I have ever seen."

With Obama's reliance on "enforcement discretion," it would now seem that Clinton had a point -- and that the "fairy tale" continues.

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