On November 7, 2000, Coloradans approved Amendment 20, which legalized the use of marijuana. In 2012, recreational use of marijuana in Colorado was approved. Colorado has been at the forefront of the effort to legalize the use of cannabis in the U.S.; however, one has to ask: Have we become a better state because of this?
Marijuana legalization has led to an era of industrialized THC, which is not for the faint of heart, especially families. State-sanctioned marijuana products are more dangerous and more accessible than ever before. Vapes and edibles can provide a powerful, potent chemical assault on the brain, resulting in addiction and psychosis.
When Coloradans voted on medical marijuana in 2000 the delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in the plant was 5% and concentrates were not available. Now we have genetically modified plants with an average of 20% THC and chemically created concentrates with an average of 69% THC, some up above 90% THC. THC is the psychoactive component of marijuana that gets you high.
Any time you make a drug more potent, it becomes more addictive. We have seen this with the opioid epidemic as well as with both alcohol and nicotine. Addictive drugs used regularly often result in the development of tolerance, where the amount that used to work no longer works, and the person must take more and more to achieve the…
