Marijuana-related (active THC) traffic fatalities were 4 times as high in 2016 as in 2013 in Colorado according to the CO DOT. Legalization seems to come with a price. 55% surveyed also believed it safe to drive when using.

This^^. Litigation will always fall to the federal law, thus testing and prosecution will remain in place until the feds change the laws. It's a tricky one on account of unlike alcohol, THC stays in the bloodstream long after the debilitating effects are gone.

I am personally in favor of testing - for EVERYTHING, including the random breathalyzer for alcohol on Monday morning to see who's still drunk from the weekend - before they climb aboard their heavy equipment, or for that matter administer clerical or financial tasks for unsuspecting clients. I really don't care what someone does on their own time, but never at someone else's expense or liability.

As for legalization creating addicts, that's utter rubbish. Addicts will always be addicts. Access has never been the problem for them - of anything they choose to ingest. I live in OR. There are no more stoners on the streets than before. The only difference is us residents are collecting the tax revenues rather than the cartels collecting the profits.

According to the Colorado State Police, in 2014 there were over 1000 pot-related citations and MJ was an indicator in 674 citations CSP issued for DUI or DUID — about 12 percent of DUI citations. Marijuana was the only suspected indicator in 354 of those citations. This does not count local law enforcement arrests. I suspect this number is very low due to the difficulty enforcing against a odorless substance that is easily disguised in food, etc. and is consumed in small. more potent quantities (compared to alcohol). There is no marijuana breathalyzer, so many blood tests are taken from those who display drugs openly while driving or are a corpse in an obviously drug related accident. Even so, more than 17 percent of all DUI arrests from the Colorado State Patrol in 2016 involved marijuana.

In 21.4% (over 100) of automotive fatalities in 2013 (in Colorado alone),the driver was drugged (around 40 with marijuana)...and I imagine that since MJ is not as obvious...not all folks/corpses received blood tests for THC. Seems pretty serious if you were one of the victims.

In Washington, over 1,300 drivers tested positive for marijuana in 2013 (almost 25 percent more than 2012). Also a big increase after legalization.

I would have to disagree with this part. Folks cannot become addicted to a substance that they have no contact with. A lot most folks have sampled a beer (because it was legal and readily available) than marijuana. Similarly, people who would not hesitate to try a legal product would be more likely to avoid an illegal one that is detectible for a long period and might cause jail...or at least unemployment. Legalization and mass marketing denote societal approval/encouragement.

Yeah, right .... there were no new alcohol users created during prohibition....un huh....
My father was an alcoholic (dead at 57), I lived through the 80's and 90's in SanFrancisco... I've seen my share and then some of all form of substance use and abuse. Access is and has never been the problem for anything. A person has curiosity and interest or not.

I would strongly disagree with this one. Growing up in the 1990s, I had far easier access to pot than I had to alcohol or tobacco as a teen. Exponentially easier, because there were many more potential sources. Much easier to hit up a small scale drug dealer in high school than find an adult or someone with a fake ID to buy booze or cigarettes. Which sucked, because I just wanted beer.:cool:

Access is always a factor...but enforcement is also a factor. According to historians, prohibition drastically reduced consumption:

...Though popular opinion believes that Prohibition failed, it succeeded in cutting overall alcohol consumption in half during the 1920s, and consumption remained below pre-Prohibition levels until the 1940s,[1] suggesting that Prohibition did socialize a significant proportion of the population in temperate habits, at least temporarily. Some researchers contend that its political failure is attributable more to a changing historical context than to characteristics of the law itself.[2]...

"...It is not clear whether Prohibition reduced per-capita consumption of alcohol. Some historians claim that alcohol consumption in the United States did not exceed pre-Prohibition levels until the 1960s;[70] others claim that alcohol consumption reached the pre-Prohibition levels several years after its enactment, and have continued to rise.[71] Cirrhosis of the liver, normally a result of alcoholism, dropped nearly two thirds during Prohibition.[72][73] In the decades after Prohibition, Americans shed any stigma they might have had against alcohol consumption. According to a Gallup Poll survey conducted almost every year since 1939, some two-thirds of American adults age 18 and older drink alcohol.[74]"
"Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International ..., Volume 1
By Jack S. Blocker, David M. Fahey, Ian R. Tyrrell

Marijuana is the perfect drug to sell to kids...as it is relatively small, lightweight and odorless until used. It can be hidden on one's body very easily without "printing".While it may have been readily available to you...I would assume that if they were the case, folks thought you to be cool and would not likely "narc" on them. Less "cool" folks likely did not have the same opportunities (but would if use were legal and more widespread). Lets take your current situation where it is illegal...if you asked most coworkers for a joint, would you be able to get one? What if it were legal? Would it be easier attainable?

Odorless until used? Please stop talking. You have zero credibility.

Any one anywhere can find weed in about 2 minutes on Craigslist Fint. And odorless? Really showing your lack of knowledge there.

As for access to kids, in my entire youth pre 19, it was orders of magnitude easier to score weed, or any other illicit drug, than alcohol. Legalization can only lead to better control of access to kids if that is a legitimate concern you have.
weed is bulky compared to any other drug fint, smells waaaaaay more. Name any drug, it fits your "perfect to sell to kids" bs better.

Some other effects of Prohibition:

created the environment for organized crime to flourish

moved consumption habits to more potent forms of alcohol (hard liquor vs. beer and wine) - because it was more efficient to smuggle, easier to get.

Same thing happened with opiates...couple hundred years ago unrefined forms were readily available. Once criminalized, smugglers and black market took over and naturally gravitated towards more potent, refined forms of the drugs to maximize profits.

Pretty much does if you keep in in a ziplock. Do you really think kids wear it in their hair? If I have zero credibility...where does that leave you?

LOL. No, I think you are showing your lack of knowledge. Try buying some (or selling) off marijuana craigslist in most communities (where it is illegal) per the state/city.

Seems just the opposite for marijuana. Potency is way up as are distribution methods (edibles, vaping, etc.). Black markets are still flourishing. Big Marijuana and big pharma are little different than organized crime.

Zip lock bags do not contain the aroma. Your kids probably had a fun time pulling one over on their old man.

How does legalization make it easier to control access? Any adult can buy it and resell or give to kids without every having to break any law to get their supply. Parental (legal) purchases can make it much more available to children/teens.

Try putting a sandwich bag of marijuana (or an edible that looks like candy) in your pocket and a six pack in the other. Tell me which is more bulky.

It did when I was a teen...maybe your nose is just more sensitized to the odor than mine.

So you believe potency of MJ has increased only since U.S. states started legalizing/decriminalizing? MJ has been entirely illegal in the USA for much, much longer than it has "enjoyed" pockets of legality here and I can assure you that potency has been increasing steadily thanks to more controlled and hi-tech cultivation techniques. Perhaps these techniques would have developed less or more slowly if people were allowed to just plant some seeds in their backyard garden? .

Alcohol and prescription narcotics are a much bigger issue than MJ. MJ is not addictive physiologically like alcohol and opiates. I'm not saying it can't cause problems, just pointing out that you should be more concerned about big pharma and big alcohol than you should be about MJ.

When I was in high school, everybody knew who to ask for pot. Not just me because I was so cool. From what I hear about high school today, it's just as easy. And today, despite being a working professional, I'm fairly certain I could find somebody within about 5 minutes.

I don't have a dog in this fight, because it's not my thing. But most of what you are posting reads like it came out of a Mcgruff the Crime Dog pamphlet that isn't bounded in any sort of reality. Prohibition, btw, was an epic failure by just about every measure. It didn't cut drinking, it simply pushed it underground.