Research Paper

Introduction                                                         

Charles Fischler

Old Dominion University

ENGL 211

Professor Boeshart

Abstract

This paper looks at any tangible effect the legalization of marijuana in Colorado by the use of surveys, and comparing those answers to other states and countries that have already legalized marijuana.

Introduction

Ever since the legalization of marijuana happened in Colorado, I have wondered if the state would follow sentiments and trends other countries have followed. Everyone I talked to seems to have a very strong opinion one way or another, so I also wanted to look at if that opinion changed following a few years of legal marijuana sales. I surveyed family members living in Colorado and just like friends in Florida and Virginia I talked to, they also had a strong, varying opinions on marijuana legalization. Some were already in favor of it prior to the legislation passing and some were against it no matter what positive effects it could bring to their state. To try and find out their feelings, I asked the following questions:

  1. How long have you lived in Colorado?
  2. Have you ever used marijuana since living in Colorado?
  3. If so, when was the last time?
  4. Have you used it since it became legal?
  5. If so, how often do you use marijuana?
  6. Have you noticed an increase in crime since legalization? (the data does not support this but I wanted to see if they thought there was an increase in crime)
  7. Have you noticed an increase in homelessness in your area since legalization? (same situation as above)
  8. Do you have kids in the Colorado Public School system?
  9. If so, have you noticed an increase in education funding for your school?

With those questions I felt I could get a general feeling of their stance to marijuana and then compare their answers to what was already observed in places like Oregon, Washington and Uruguay. Sure enough, those who had opinions against marijuana had kids in the public school system and had admitted they observed what they perceived as an increased number of projects (building, maintenance, repairs) going on in their schools however they still held negative views of marijuana. One participant even went as far as to say, “Ill never accept it no matter what it brings”. A major limitation I had with this project though was getting a larger sample size. I polled 10 family members in Colorado, and I recognize that is not a wide enough sample to give an accurate picture of state-wide feelings. 

Methods

Research Method

For the methods used I decided to use both archival data and a survey. I have family out in Colorado, so I used them to answer a few questions. The 7 family members I used, they all differ in age and life experiences which is what I wanted. I know this is not the best representation of Colorado citizens but it’s the only people I know out in that state. I did not want to use all young family members because I know typically younger people skew towards a more positive view of marijuana. The survey questions were all asked over the phone and I told them it was for a research paper I was writing for class.

Script

  1. How long have you lived in Colorado?
  2. Have you ever used marijuana since living in Colorado?
  3. If so, when was the last time?
  4. Have you used it since it became legal?
  5. If so, how often do you use marijuana?
  6. Have you noticed an increase in crime since legalization? (the data does not support this but I wanted to see if they thought there was an increase in crime)
  7. Have you noticed an increase in homelessness in your area since legalization? (same situation as above)
  8. Do you have kids in the Colorado Public School system?
  9. If so, have you noticed an increase in education funding for your school?

Limitations

I was limited to the number of participants I could ask unfortunately. I wanted to spread out the people I asked these questions to in order to get different responses. My sister has friends out in Colorado however they are younger, and I think they would have skewed the data in a certain direction. Finding a larger pool of people with different life experiences would have been ideal but I just don’t have access to that group of people. Three of the seven people I talked to had never used marijuana at any part in their life so that limited my pool with answers to four which really is not a fair representation at all.

Results

Survey QuestionsOption 1Option 2Option 3Option 4
How long have you lived in Colorado?  0-2 Years 22-5 Years 05-10 Years 110+ Years 4
Have you ever used marijuana since living in Colorado?  Yes 5  No 2 “Have zero desire to ever use it. I think its one of the worst things this state has done”  
If so, when was the last time?  Past Month 3  Past Year 1  Past 2 Years 1 “Its been quite a while, Im not sure when it was exactly”Past 5 Years 0
Have you used it since it became legal?  Yes 5  No 2 “Havent yet and don’t ever plan on it”  
If so, how often do you use marijuana?  Almost Daily 2Weekly 1Monthly 1Other 1 “If its around I would, I’m not going out of my way for it though”
Have you noticed an increase in crime since legalization?  Yes 2 “Ive seen way more news coverage of robberies”No 4Other 1 “I don’t know for sure but it feels like there is more stories on the news about crime” 
Have you noticed an increase in homelessness in your area since legalization?  Yes 4 “I like marijuana but you cant deny there hasn’t been an increase in people on the streets”No 2 “Colorado has always had a homeless problem, I don’t think this has anything to do with weed”Other 1 
Do you have kids in the Colorado Public School system?  Yes 5No 2      
If so, have you noticed an increase in education funding for your school?  Yes 3 “Im not a fan of weed but Emily’s elementary school has a new playground and blacktop”No 1Other 1 “I don’t think Ive seen any kind of new building but I honestly haven’t looked for it either” 

Discussion

Based on the results of the survey, as well as the secondary research conducted, it seems that marijuana legalization had a noticed positive impact however, legalization has failed to change someone’s opinion on marijuana they had prior to legalization. The most noticeable impact legalization has had was it put tax paying money back in the pockets of Colorado citizens. In 1992, Colorado passed a law called TABOR (Taxpayers Bill or Rights) that guarantees runaway spending will be curtailed and any excess tax paying money would be returned to the state’s citizens. Amendment 64 addresses the taxes marijuana would generate and how it would be allocated. 12.59% would go towards the State Public School Fund while almost 15.5% would go to the state’s General Fund. In 2015, the influx of cash from taxed marijuana sales was so great each citizen received almost 8$ back in tax refunds. In addition to tax refunds, survey participants noticed their schools had “I’m not a fan of weed but Emily’s elementary school has a new playground and a new blacktop”. That is in part to a law passed in 2012 that stated money derived from marijuana sales would go to school maintenance and infrastructure improvements. Although I did not ask what their opinions were on the school prior to marijuana legalization, 4 survey participants commented on how their local elementary school did look better. 

Despite survey participants acknowledging positive results from marijuana legalization in Colorado, their opinions had not largely changed compared to opinions they held before legalization. One survey participant even commented “it looks like its helped, but I just don’t like it”. These survey results are in line with what studied in Uruguay following their legalization efforts. Uruguay citizens never had a positive view of marijuana prior to its 2013 legalization and very little has changed according to a survey conducted from 2015-2020 (Queirolo, Rosario, Rossel, Álvarez, Repetto). Much like Colorado citizens, some citizens have acknowledged the economic benefits from marijuana legalization however their overall view remains negative. One survey participant commented she was not in favor of legalization because it “would lead to underage consumption”. To date, there has been no noticeable uptick in underage use in Colorado. Furthermore, a study conducted in 2018 in Oregon and Washington indicated there was no association between legalization and people under 18 consuming marijuana. (Kerr) The study does recognize however that this young age group already has a larger than average amount of marijuana users so legalization may not have meant much to this crowd.

Although I did ask about perceived rates crime and homelessness in Colorado, I did not ask about an increase in tobacco use. According to a study conducted in 2018, in states where marijuana was legalized there has been an increase in the sales of tobacco products. Typically, a cigarillo is a fairly popular way to consume marijuana and the sale of popular cigarillo brands like Swisher or Black and Mild’s are up by nearly 10% in legalized states. I regret not asking about the perceived amount of tobacco sales because this seems like it would be an easy thing to confirm. The concern here is there may be an increase in tobacco related illness like cancer if this trend continues. 

Works Cited

Anonymous (2018). Impacts of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado. https://heinonline.org.proxy.lib.odu.edu/HOL/Page?handle=hein.beal/ismalnco0001&id=7&collection=beal&index=

Campbell, William, et al. “Support for Marijuana (Cannabis) Legalization: Untangling Age, Period, and Cohort Effects.” Collabra. Psychology, vol. 3, no. 1, 2017, pp. Collabra. Psychology, 2017–01-01, Vol.3 (1).

Kerr, David C. R, et al. “Oregon Recreational Marijuana Legalization: Changes in Undergraduates’ Marijuana Use Rates From 2008 to 2016.” Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, vol. 32, no. 6, 2018, pp. 670–678.

            Anonymous (2012) Marijuana Taxes, TABOR

https://leg.colorado.gov/agencies/legislative-council-staff/marijuana-taxes%C2%A0

Giovenco, Daniel P, et al. “Cigarillo Sales in Legalized Marijuana Markets in the U.S.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol. 185, 2018, pp. 347–350.

Zambiasi, Diego, and Steven Stillman. “THE POT RUSH: IS LEGALIZED MARIJUANA A POSITIVE LOCAL AMENITY?” Economic Inquiry, vol. 58, no. 2, 2020, pp. 667–679.

Queirolo, Rosario, Cecilia Rossel, Eliana Álvarez, and Lorena Repetto. “Why Uruguay Legalized Marijuana? The Open Window of Public Insecurity.” Addiction (Abingdon, England) 114.7 (2019): 1313-321. Web.