Colorado’s green dreams for marijuana are going up in smoke 12 years after legalization

Some Coloradans are warning other states not to follow its lead in legalizing marijuana , pointing to a declining cannabis market and a rise in public health concerns.

When Colorado became the first state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis in 2012, the drug's proponents said the move would expand economic growth. For years, it seemed they were right.

Users flocked to the Centennial State in droves. The uniqueness of Colorado’s market helped drive $2.2 billion in market revenue in 2021. But the sales have fallen away as other states have followed Colorado’s lead in legalizing the drug. Now, adults across 24 states can legally use marijuana, which has contributed to a massive tourism drop and revenue loss for Colorado. The cannabis market has dropped more than 30% since 2021, and in some counties, sales have dropped 50%.

In May, President Joe Biden announced plans to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, which could give Colorado's cannabis market a boost. Currently labeled as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced it intends to change marijuana's classification to be a Schedule III drug, on par with ketamine and some anabolic steroids.

Opponents of marijuana legalization say the drug hasn’t only failed Colorado economically. While 57% of voters support making cannabis legal, critics say Colorado's actions unraveled the state’s social fabric, citing dangers to public health and its effects on community safety. They also claim cannabis is linked to a crime surge, higher suicide rates, and traffic fatalities.

“The percent of suicide incidents in which toxicology results were positive for marijuana has increased from 14% in 2013 to 29% in 2020," according to the Rocky Mountain High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program's annual report on Colorado’s legalization of marijuana .

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“Since recreational marijuana was legalized, the percentage of all Colorado traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana increased from 11% in 2013 to 20% in 2020,” according to the report.

In 2022, Colorado’s crime was up 21.6% from 2013 levels. However, past-month marijuana usage among teenagers has dropped from a high of 21.2% in 2015 to 12.8% in 2023, lower than the national average. In 2022, cannabis usage in states where it was legal was 24% higher than where it remained illegal, according to the journal Addiction.