Editor’s note: This commentary is by Sal Pace of Pueblo, Colorado. He is a Pueblo County Commissioner representing 165,000 residents. He previously served as a state Representative, where he was the minority leader in Colorado’s House.
[I] was shocked to read the June 20 commentary from one of my constituents claiming the utter end to society based on her experience in Pueblo, Colorado as the result of the end of marijuana prohibition. Let’s skip the obvious fact that Puebloans were using marijuana before adult-use was legalized overwhelmingly by Colorado and Pueblo voters in 2012. The only difference is now it’s regulated, taxed, tested and not sold from a black market dealer who probably got his product from Mexico (Donald Trump are you listening).
Let me be clear: Vermont is making the correct choice by moving to legalize, regulate and tax adult-use marijuana. Courageous leaders, like Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, among others, will be judged well by history.
You see, the day before my constituent’s opinion piece was published in Vermont, I stood in front of the Pueblo County Courthouse and handed out scholarship certificates to 210 recent high school graduates to attend a local college of their choice. These scholarships were funded from the excise tax placed on the cultivation of cannabis in our community. Kids were dressed in their finest clothes, parents flashed their cameras and everyone in attendance was glowing. Today in Pueblo County, every high school senior is guaranteed a scholarship to a local college, if they opt in, because of the legalization of adult-use cannabis. In Colorado, the state is generating $200 million in tax revenues annually from marijuana tax revenues. In fact, the General Assembly just increased marijuana taxes temporarily to fill a funding gap in the state budget.
The opinion writer knows this. She also knows that she and a small group of prohibitionists attempted to overturn regulated adult-use cannabis here in Pueblo County in November 2016. They thought it would be better to send the sales back to the black market. They got trounced 58 percent to 42 percent. Despite her trash talking our community to you on the other side of the continent, Pueblo is, in fact, a wonderful community, and quite the opposite of her description of hellfire falling from the sky. If the citizens of Pueblo believed a word she said, they wouldn’t have increased the margin toward legalization by six points this past November vis-a-vis the 2012 vote.
My lead as a state Representative in favor of a regulated medical marijuana regime, and today as a County Commissioner helping turn Pueblo County into the Napa Valley of Cannabis, are some of the greatest accomplishments I’ve made in my 10 years in elected office.
Pueblo County has historically been poorer than the rest of the state. We’ve faced rampant unemployment since the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company shut its steel factory doors in the 1980s. Before legalization of marijuana, our unemployment rate was mired above 12 percent. Today, we sit at 3.2 percent unemployment and we have more Puebloans employed than ever in our history. The construction market is booming because 50 percent of all construction projects are directly attributed to cannabis projects. We’ve seen well over $100 million in outside capital investment into our economy, and we are exporting $50 million annually of marijuana products to communities mostly around the Denver metro area of the state. Our local university has gotten into the mix. We created the Institute of Cannabis Research at CSU-Pueblo, which is the first multidisciplinary research program of its kind at an accredited university. There are literally three dozen doctorate degree holders studying cannabis science, medicine and social impacts.
In response to specific claims from the doctor, I’ll say virtually all of them are intentional mistruths.
First, our homeless population has not tripled. People don’t turn homeless when they smoke a joint. Also, our total population has grown because we are booming. Pueblo County Social Services says that homeless growth closely matches population growth. Unlike Vermont, most of our neighboring states (Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Utah) happen to not have not adopted the Obamacare expanded Medicaid, which might be a draw to Colorado for people fighting a costly ailment. Finally, regarding homelessness, her theory that homeless people moved specifically to Pueblo because we legalized doesn’t correlate to Vermont, because both Massachusetts and Maine recently legalized.
In response to specific claims from the doctor, I’ll say virtually all of them are intentional mistruths.
Secondly, her example of people getting badly burned while illegally making butane hash oil in their garage is not a reason to keep prohibition going. Rather, it’s a prime example why we need to take marijuana out of the black market and regulate it. Explosions don’t happen in tightly regulated environments.
Next, the marijuana industry has created jobs in our community. Lots of jobs. Thousands of jobs. Virtually all of those jobs are above minimum wage, and most provide health coverage for their employees. The opinion writer laments the end of strip malls, and oddly blames marijuana. I personally think we should celebrate the death of strip malls. People should get out of their cars, walk downtown and support locally-owned businesses. But, I digress.
The opinion writer claims marijuana teen use is high, but she chose not to compare pre- and post-legalization numbers. Well, guess what: marijuana teen use hasn’t changed. Don’t trust me; it’s from the kids. Every two years, the state health department surveys all high school students anonymously and asks which substances they’ve consumed. Since legalization has occurred, teen use hasn’t increased in Colorado or in Pueblo. The doctor cites the same survey, but intentionally doesn’t mention that the numbers haven’t increased, and by some accounts, they’ve gone down.
Also, marijuana is hardly dangerous. Nobody has ever died from an overdose … ever. Meanwhile, alcohol and pharmaceuticals kill our kids daily. We heard that smoking marijuana carcinogens are dangerous, but you didn’t hear that 51 percent of sales in Colorado are extracted products like edibles or vaporizers that are not “smoked.” Back in the prohibition days, all marijuana was flower that was smoked. If you’re concerned about the “smoke,” going backward won’t help.
Her assertion that a marijuana plant takes six gallons of water per day is absurd. One local farmer moved his crop from hay to marijuana and cut his water usage by 75 percent. In Pueblo we’ve seen a cultivation boom because we allow outdoor grows; people have realized they can cut their carbon footprint using the natural sun, while also cutting operating costs.
Crime is down, especially the most violent crimes like homicide, in our community despite the writer’s assertions. People don’t smoke pot and start a fight. C’mon — it doesn’t make sense.
So, why is an emergency room doctor complaining about Pueblo to all of you in Vermont? I don’t know; but the fact is that the pharmaceutical industry is scared of legalized marijuana. Marijuana is a threat to opioid manufacturers and those who benefit from prescribing them. A University of Michigan study by Kevin Boehnke, published in the Journal of Pain, showed a 64 percent decrease in opioid use amongst chronic pain patients who were using marijuana. Incidentally, the manufacturers of fentanyl were the largest contributors in Arizona defeating their marijuana adult use initiative. What was their motivation? We don’t know who financed the failed marijuana prohibition campaign in Pueblo last year, since they hid their money in a non-profit, but my guess is it was the same cast of characters. Considering that opioid overdose deaths surpassed 30,000 people in the U.S. last year with the majority caused by prescription pain relievers, it seems that the doctor might be pointing the finger at the wrong medicine.
Correction: The original commentary published by VTDigger referred to the prior opinion writer as a nurse. It should be noted that this individual is a doctor. The use of the word “nurse” was due to an edit made by VTDigger, and was not included in the original commentary submitted by Sal Pace.
