Marijuana Legalization in Colorado

 
In the year 2000, the use of medical marijuana was allowed for the first time in Colorado (for patients with chronic medical conditions only). Medical marijuana was rarely used by patients until 2009 when the use and sale of marijuana were liberalized by the federal policy. The sale and distribution of medical marijuana increased the number of issued licenses: from 4819 in 2008 to 116 287 in 2014 (Monte, Zane, & Heard, 2015, p. 1). Following conditions are considered as qualifying for the use of medical marijuana: cancer, HIV or AIDS, persistent muscle spasms, seizures, severe pain (Monte et al., 2015, p. 2).

The “retail sale, purchase, and possession of marijuana for state residents and visitors older than 21 years” were legally approved, as well as accepted almost by 60% percent of the voters (Monte et al., 2015, p. 2). On the first day of 2014, the retail stores started to sell marijuana to consumers. Before the legalization, the distribution of marijuana was restricted by patient-caregiver rules where a caregiver was only allowed to distribute marijuana to five patients; this was done to avoid the widespread distribution of marijuana (Monte et al., 2015, p. 2).

Various effects of decriminalization were expected and then confirmed: chronic health conditions had exacerbated, the number of marijuana intoxications had increased. However, unexpected results were also obtained and documented by Monte et al. (2015): the number of burns, sometimes severe, had increased compared to the years when marijuana was not legalized; cyclic vomiting syndrome’s presentations also increased, and more children unintentionally ingested marijuana products (p. 3). To conclude, some patients have gained benefits from legalization, while others were exposed to certain risks.