MARIJUANA LAW UPDATES BY NINA M. FRENCH, CURRENT CONSULTING GROUP
Get Out Your Checkbook: What Legalized Marijuana is Going To Cost
This column will update readers on developments in marijuana legalization
T
his year is shaping up to be one of activism and opinion like few before. The nightly news, social
media, and even the dinner table are alive with debate about legislation, politics, and the role of government. Although it may have taken a backseat
during Washington’s recent change in administration, the legalization of marijuana remains a topic about which people are willing to parley. Proponents of legalization oſten support their position with evidence of suffering that has been alleviated by marijuana. Te “middle of the line” supporters generally adopt a more laissez faire atitude: that adults should be able to make their own decisions; that smoking marijuana is no different than having a cocktail; or that the government should not be involved in the regulations of such things.
Opponents, however, are oſten
deemed overly conservative, excessively cautious, backwards thinkers. In an October 2016 Gallup poll, more than 60 percent of Americans polled supported the legalization of marijuana. Tat is the highest approval rating in the poll’s 47-year history. Te approval is spread across all groups, too: millennials to baby boomers, urbanites to ruralists, the so-called “1%”, and those living below the poverty line. With such overwhelming support, one could assume that legalization has clear benefits for everyone. Tat assumption is not only costly, it could prove to be dead wrong. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), marijuana is the second-most abused drug in the United States, aſter alcohol. Many people fail to realize that alcohol,
although legal, costs employers and taxpayers millions of dollars each year. In 2010, the cost of excessive alcohol use in the United States reached $249 billion, and two out of every five of those dollars were paid by federal, state, and local governments—all funded by the taxpayer. In fact, of this $249 billion drain on the American economy, $179
billion is directly associated to workplace productivity, and an additional $28 billion to healthcare costs. It is fair to assume that, as marijuana continues to be legalized, its costs will begin to equal or even surpass those of alcohol.1 As legalization continues to expand,
more statistics are highlighting the negative impact of marijuana. According to data from Quest Diagnostics, from 2012 to 2013, urine drug test positivity for marijuana in the workplace increased 6.2 percent nationally. In the same time period, following the recreational legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington State, positive marijuana drug test results increased by 20 and 23 percent, respectively. And, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, “Drugged driving accounted for more than 28 percent of traffic deaths in 2010, up from just over 16 percent in 1999. Marijuana proved to be the main drug involved in the increase, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999.”2 Marijuana is not just impacting driving and
1 DRINK = $2.05 IN ECONOMIC COSTS
52 datia focus $807 PER PERSON
positive drug tests. “Based on data from the Seatle Police Department, property crime rates within Seatle (e.g., burglary, motor vehicle theſt, and larceny) have been rising at a precipitous pace since possessing an ounce or less of marijuana became legal on Dec. 6, 2012. In 2012, the number of property crimes documented by the Seatle Police Department was a litle over 32,000. By 2013, the number of property crime reports rose to 36,815. Last year, property crimes in Seatle jumped once more to 40,666 incidents. All told, property crimes have increased by more than a quarter in the two years following the legalization of marijuana, with motor vehicle theſt witnessing the biggest increase—up more than 50 percent in two years.”3
spring 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
