October 30, 2015
DENVER, Colorado (WDTN) -There are a lot of claims surrounding marijuana legalization.
“Its very costly to set up with a whole brand new industry and regulate it and try to enforce it. It’s been quite a struggle,” said Gina Carbone, co-founder of SMART Colorado.
Several task forces were involved in figuring out how to legalize pot in the state when it’s still illegal federally. One big issue is marijuana is a cash business because banks are federally insured.
Colorado did not make as much money as originally estimated off pot. Last year, they brought in 44 million dollars in new taxes. The estimate was about 30 million off. (One reason is that the state has difficulty collecting taxes on the sale of marijuana products from a cash business)
President of Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Kelly Brough said they’ve worked hard to make sure businesses know they can still have a drug-free workplace in the state.
Erie, Colorado’s Chief Marco Vasquez said law enforcement has had challenges identifying drugged drivers and keeping the legal marijuana from leaving the state. He says crime has gone up but says there’s no way to know if it’s because of legalizing pot.
“I will tell you I think it is more complex for law enforcement because there is a lot more gray area for officers to contend with,” said Chief Vasquez. “I would say ultimately it isn’t good for our society.”
David Kroll Forbes CONTRIBUTOR
Back in the 1990s, I taught and did cancer research at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy in Denver. Among my teaching assignments was the pharmacology and toxicology of marijuana and other drugs that are misused for recreational purposes, both prescription and illicit.
Yesterday, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a viewpoint article online from three Colorado emergency physicians who offered their firsthand perspective on the first year of this experiment.
Colorado residents over the age of 21 can purchase up to 1 ounce of marijuana in a single transaction while out of state residents are limited to 1/4 of an ounce.
But public use of marijuana is technically illegal, similar to open container laws for alcoholic beverages. This restriction, in part, has given rise to a considerable market for edible marijuana products.
From a public health perspective, the authors noted the general expectation that more widespread marijuana use would exacerbate chronic medical conditions, particularly psychiatric disorders since the active components of the plant can cause anxiety and paranoia in some individuals.
(The American Lung Association (ALA) does note that marijuana smoke contains four times as much tar as tobacco-based cigarette smoke:)
But the authors reported an unexpected uptick in "pure" marijuana intoxication: "anxiety, panic attacks, public intoxication, vomiting, or other nonspecific symptoms precipitated by marijuana use.
As marijuana is often used to manage the nausea and vomiting of cancer chemotherapy, the emergence of a marijuana-associated cyclic vomiting syndrome was an unexpected finding.
In unpublished data by the first author of the report, Andrew A. Monte, MD, the frequent use of high THC-containing marijuana products was linked to a doubling in this syndrome since recreational marijuana legalization.
These patients reported severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and profuse sweating that can be relieved, paradoxically, by hot showers. Receptors for cannabinoids are present in the gastrointestinal tract, but have been thought to serve in an anti-inflammatory capacity imparted by our own, naturally-produced endocannabinoids (the marijuana analog of endorphins at opioid receptors).
The University of Colorado burn unit has also seen an increase in hospitalizations for burns resulting primarily from flash fires that occur when a user is trying to extract THC and other active marijuana constituents using butane.
Thirty-one marijuana-associated burn cases have been seen at the hospital, with some over 70% of body surface area and two-thirds requiring skin grafts.
Denver-area hospitals and the state poison control service have seen 14 cases of marijuana intoxication in children over the last two years, half of which required admission to intensive care units. These cases occurred primarily with edible marijuana products, many of which are fashioned like candies or energy bars.
The problem – of which I was unaware from my teaching days – is that large doses of THC can cause respiratory depression in children.
Edible marijuana products present their own challenges because of the pharmacokinetic differences of ingested THC relative to that when the plant material is smoked. Edible marijuana products still are not tested for THC content, relying instead of manufacturer labeling.
Moreover, the psychoactive effects may be delayed by one to four hours, thereby lacking the moment-to-moment dose titration afforded by smoking marijuana.
In addition, numbers are still not available for arrests and accidents while driving under the influence of marijuana. While the state has established 5 Nano grams of THC per milliliter of blood as the threshold for intoxication, law enforcement lacks the roadside testing capability for THC that we have for alcohol.