Over time, though, the most important aspect of the job became being an ambassador to interested observers of what came to be known as the Great Colorado Weed Experiment.
By the time Senator Chuck Schumer’s delegation came through, I had moved on to another job, but his visit was the pivotal moment that changed the senator’s views on cannabis legalization.
For those expecting to see sloppy rows of plants in a tinfoil-wrapped basement, seeing multimillion-dollar operations striving to meet the highest levels of compliance made quite the impression.
But these were exceptions more than the rule, and locals would be quick to point out that they had many friends and relatives now involved in the industry, and that overall, legalization had been positive for Colorado.
Who is to say whether a spike in crime is the result of legalization rather than an economic downturn caused by a global pandemic? But most Denverites would agree that available data provides no “smoking gun.” Youth use has remained stable.
The casual observer is not alone in making this claim.
By the third year of legalization in Colorado, legalization had found significant bipartisan support among lawmakers .
Westword frequently publishes op-eds and essays on matters of interest to the Denver community; the opinions expressed in them are those of the authors, not Westword.
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