Dec 20, 2017
There has been quite the groundswell in recent years in the efforts to legalize marijuana. In fact, a majority of US states have at least some sort of access to legal weed, despite its still being criminalized at the federal level. But the state of Colorado led the nation when it legalized marijuana for all purposes, even recreational ones, in January of 2014. The anti-marijuana advocates warned that such an action would lead to increased drug use — especially among teens — higher crimes rates, and a whole spate of other undesirable consequences. Nevertheless, the plant prevailed. It's still early days, but we do have almost four years of data about the effects of legalizing marijuana to look at. Were the anti-marijuana crusaders correct? Are teen drug use and violent crime rampant? Are visitors shunning Colorado? Was it all a huge mistake? Antony Davies and James Harrigan discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.
Quick Hits
Unemployment rate is at its lowest level?
Sweet Briar college no longer discounting tuition
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/beloved-womens-college-slashes-tuition-prices-30/
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/college-costs/college-costs-faqs
Venezuela’s diaspora is growing:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/12/14/flood-venezuelans-fleeing-their-depressed-country/941463001/
US better educated now than at any time in its history:
http://triblive.com/news/education/classroom/13077368-74/us-more-educated-than-ever-before-census-bureau-says
Foolishness of the week
Bulletproof glass is an indignity
http://reason.com/blog/2017/12/15/philly-votes-to-regulate-bulletproof-gla
Marijuana and Crime
Adolescent pot use is falling in Colorado
The war on marijuana has failed
http://triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/11974018-74/marijuana-colorado-drug
Colorado’s pot full of benefits
http://triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/6487136-74/marijuana-state-war
Commercial pot in Colorado
http://gazette.com/editorial-the-sad-anniversary-of-big-commercial-pot-in-colorado/article/1614900
Milton Friedman on drug criminalization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLsCC0LZxkY
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on marijuana policy
http://www.newsweek.com/will-jeff-sessions-war-marijuana-next-week-744089
Teen marijuana use is down since legalization
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/11/following-marijuana-legalization-teen-drug-use-is-down-in-colorado
Data
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cbi/colorado-crime-statistics-ucr
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cbi/crime-colorado1
http://worldpopulationreview.com/states/colorado-population/
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/table-1
https://www.denverite.com/chronic-homelessness-ten-year-high-metro-denver-heres-citys-38546/
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/PW_ISVP_PDO_Heroin-in-Colorado-2017.pdf