In June, monthly sales for recreational and medical marijuana in my hometown of Colorado reached a record high of $199 million .
The industry’s growth took eight years. In 2012, with the passage of the 64th Amendment, Colorado, along with Washington, became one of the first states in the U.S. where consenting adults could legally purchase and consume marijuana for recreational purposes.
Since then, Colorado’s tourism landscape has changed dramatically. Legalization of recreational marijuana has fueled six of the eight consecutive years of record growth in the tourism industry. In June 2019, the Colorado Department of Revenue announced that total marijuana-related revenue had reached $1 billion since sales began in 2014. This funding has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue for the state, which can be used for education, transportation, environmental protection, and other initiatives.
However, despite the clear economic benefits, many in the United States oppose marijuana legalization. Some of my friends dislike the smell of marijuana. Others are concerned about marijuana use among teenagers, the potential effects of secondhand smoke on children, or people driving under the influence.
I haven’t smoked cigarettes in years, and I’ve never tried edible marijuana. However, I’m very pleased that America is starting to move away from its long road of unnecessarily criminalizing mild recreational drugs.
I voted in favor of Amendment 64 because I oppose the double standards regarding alcohol in the United States. Studies show that alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana. I also voted in favor because I oppose the systemic racism in the justice system that unfairly punishes people of color for drug-related crimes .
My perspective as an archaeologist is relevant to this matter. I pay close attention to what humanity has done in the past, and from the long-term perspective of human history, I know that not everything in the present is “normal.” The modern fear of marijuana is one of the concerns that seems particularly strange, because researchers estimate that humans have been using cannabis for at least 10,000 years.
What do scholars say about the long history of human use of cannabis? How did cannabis transform from a plant highly valued in many parts of the world to a notorious drug?
Hellbound and Down 