It has now been 10 years since the first state in the nation, Colorado, legalized adult-use marijuana by going against its own governor, John Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper ascribed to the then-ubiquitous belief that legal marijuana would bring ruin, as conservatives have been prophesying since before President Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs. Hickenlooper turned his opinion around when facts became impossible to ignore.
Fear of Marijuana Is Baseless
“Colorado is known for many great things—marijuana should not be one of them,” then-governor Hickenlooper wrote in 2012 in an attempt to kill the legalization effort in his state. “Amendment 64 has the potential to increase the number of children using drugs and would detract from efforts to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. It sends the wrong message to kids that drugs are OK.”
This message has been reheated and served again every time that progress is being made. Wisconsinites might recognize Hickenlooper’s 2012 fears being parroted by Republican Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who opposes cannabis reform by saying that we do not “have a need to have more drugs in society.” Legal marijuana is wrongly believed to lead to an increased crime rate, more traffic accidents, youth drug use and worse health outcomes, often mixed with perceived moral failings.
What is most striking about rightwing prophecies of doom if marijuana were to become legal is that they are not…
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It has now been 10 years since the first state in the nation, Colorado, legalized adult-use marijuana by going against its own governor, John Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper ascribed to the then-ubiquitous belief that legal marijuana would bring ruin, as conservatives have been prophesying since before President Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs. Hickenlooper turned his opinion around when facts became impossible to ignore.
Fear of Marijuana Is Baseless
“Colorado is known for many great things—marijuana should not be one of them,” then-governor Hickenlooper wrote in 2012 in an attempt to kill the legalization effort in his state. “Amendment 64 has the potential to increase the number of children using drugs and would detract from efforts to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. It sends the wrong message to kids that drugs are OK.”
This message has been reheated and served again every time that progress is being made. Wisconsinites might recognize Hickenlooper’s 2012 fears being parroted by Republican Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who opposes cannabis reform by saying that we do not “have a need to have more drugs in society.” Legal marijuana is wrongly believed to lead to an increased crime rate, more traffic accidents, youth drug use and worse health outcomes, often mixed with perceived moral failings.
What is most striking about rightwing prophecies of doom if marijuana were to become legal is that they are not…
