In 2012, Colorado and Washington state legalized the recreational use of marijuana, much to the dismay of anti-legalization advocates. They frequently claimed that it would make it easier for children to acquire, that more people would use it, that there would be more people driving while high leading to more accidents, and that it would be an all around bad deal for these states.
In Colorado, it’s safe to say that the doomsayers were completely wrong about legalizing marijuana. Sales of recreational marijuana continue to rise with more than $34 million worth sold in August alone. That means that the state raised $3.4 million for building and maintaining schools in the state. At the rate the state is going, some $30 million will be brought in from pot taxes alone. To put icing on the cake: traffic accidents, violent crime, and rape have all dropped since legalization!
Overall crime has dropped by 15%, and the number of murders is down by nearly half. The government is planning to allocate some of the state tax money from marijuana sales to improving infrastructure and employing more people, even now as the unemployment rate continues to drop.
Right now, there are over 100 legal dispensaries in Colorado. Could they really be doing any more harm than the numerous bars? At the end of the day, we are all forced to acknowledge that making pot legal has not appeared to bring any negative consequences, and is in fact reducing crime, creating jobs, and generating tax revenue.