There
was a time when marijuana was used to wrap into a paper and smoked almost like
a cigarette, but due to the curious minds, over time, marijuana smoking became
more advanced. Now a days we can smoke different types of marijuana (Sativa –
Energetic and Happy high, and Indica – a Sleepy and Tired high), eat marijuana
infused treats (Edibles), and there are concentrated marijuana substances (Wax,
kieif, or hash), which all have different effects and different amounts of THC
(Tetrahydrocannibinol – the chemical that gives an individual a high feeling). There
are more people aware of marijuana smoking in the United States and there are
even some states that are allowing recreational use, for example, Colorado.
Recently, in April 2013, Colorado legalized the recreational use of marijuana,
and since then Colorado has been experiencing some ups and downs, trying to
figure minors things out. With all of the different ways to getting “high”,
people are abusing the legalization of marijuana.
In
recent news, Colorado has had some complications trying to keep children safe
from the ingestion of marijuana. Although some may think that marijuana
legalization has benefited Colorado, and in some ways it has, marijuana
legalization has also caused the amount of children checking in at the
Children’s Hospital due to marijuana infused edibles (Stokols, 2014). In order
to protect children from the overdose of marijuana edibles, Governor John
Hickenlooper signs two bills involving the regulation on edibles – one bill
stating that the edible packaging must establish a standard amount of retail
marijuana product and stating that the edible must state the retail marijuana
concentrate. And another law requiring state legislators to come up with rules
that make marijuana edibles identifiable even when they are out of their
packaging. I don’t know how state legislators are going to come up with such a
rule because there is not much you can really do to signify something edible is
marijuana infused. The odor of an edible should be able to tell you whether or
not it has marijuana in it, but for edibles that don’t smell as potent, it will
be very difficult to figure out some sort of marijuana signification on treats.
It
is hard enough as it is to regulate the use of marijuana, how is a state going
to regulate something that is already legal? Also, another bill that is being
overlooked before Colorado adopts this new rule states that every marijuana
infused cookie or brownie contains the same amount of THC. This is a better
rule to implement because this gives users more knowledge on how much an
individual is ingesting. It was recorded that so far this year, nine children
have been checked into the Children’s Hospital for accidentally eating edibles,
which the Hospital only saw eight, last year. Although these new laws have been
implemented, since marijuana has been legalized in Colorado, the regulation
between children and edibles/marijuana is going to be even harder from when it
was illegal. It’s good to see that Colorado is fixing the little problems with
marijuana legalization, but there’s only so much laws can do. The rest of
regulating marijuana is policing it. What are your opinions on Colorado legalizing marijuana for recreational use?
