Pubdate: Tue, 17 May 2016
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: David Kelly

COLORADO GOVERNOR CHANGES TUNE ON POT

John Hickenlooper, Once a Leading Critic, Now Says the Industry Looks 
'Like It Might Work.' Here's Why.

DENVER - When Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana four 
years ago, one of the move's chief critics was Gov. John Hickenlooper.

The moderate Democrat said that if he could "wave a magic wand" to 
reverse the decision, he would. Then he called voters "reckless" for 
approving it in the first place, a remark he later downgraded to "risky."

"Colorado is known for many great things," Hickenlooper said. 
"Marijuana should not be one of them."

But the governor's views have softened. During a recent panel 
discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, 
he said that despite opposing the legalization of pot, his job was to 
"deliver on the will of the people of Colorado."

"If I had that magic wand now, I don't know if I would wave it," he 
said. "It's beginning to look like it might work."

It was the latest in a series of comments Hickenlooper has made 
signaling what looks like an evolution of his views on marijuana. In 
April last year, during an interview with Fox Business host Maria 
Bartiromo, Hickenlooper said legal weed was "not as vexing as we 
thought it was going to be."

And during an appearance on "60 Minutes," he predicted that Colorado 
might "actually create a system that could work" in successfully 
regulating marijuana. Why the change? "The predictions of fire and 
brimstone have failed to materialize," said Mason Tvert, spokesman 
for the Marijuana Policy Project, a national group working to reform 
pot laws. "Most Coloradoans, including the governor, recognize that 
the law is working."

 From the start, Hickenlooper saw the legalization of marijuana as a 
great national experiment, something utterly new in this country and 
fraught with potential public health and safety issues.

He fretted about a potential rise in drug use among children and was 
clearly uncomfortable with an amendment directly conflicting with 
federal law, which considers pot an illegal drug on par with cocaine.

There were plenty of snags at first. Marijuana edibles proved 
especially problematic because few people had experience with them. 
High-profile overdoses made national news. Just last week a lawsuit 
was filed against the maker of a marijuana-laced candy, alleging the 
product triggered a "psychotic episode" that caused a man to kill his 
wife in 2014.

Still, none of Hickenlooper's worst fears were realized.

Colorado is booming. The state has a 4.2% unemployment rate, one of 
the best in the country. Hightech companies are moving in. Small 
towns across the state, some once teetering on the brink of 
bankruptcy, have been saved by tax revenues from pot dispensaries. 
And the $1-billion-a-year cannabis business will pump $100 million in 
taxes into state coffers this year.

Andrew Freedman, director of marijuana coordination for Colorado, 
said the governor's views reflect a growing sense of optimism about 
how the industry is regulated.

"In the short run, there have been a lot fewer public safety and 
health issues than the governor feared in the beginning," said 
Freedman. "In the beginning, we had problems with edibles and hash 
oil fires, but now, for the most part, Colorado looks a lot like it 
did before legalization."

Marijuana consumption has not changed much from pre-legalization 
levels and there has been no significant increase in public health 
and safety problems, he said.

As for the $100 million in tax revenue, Freedman noted, that's out of 
a $27-billion state budget.

About 70% of the money is earmarked for school construction, public 
health initiatives and other projects. The rest goes back into 
regulating the industry.

"The governor has called this a grand experiment from the beginning. 
He looks at data points as he goes along and I think he's pleasantly 
surprised that there were not as many challenges as he thought," Freedman said.

"He would say the jury is still out on this experiment but he's optimistic."

Some are less circumspect.

"The state's image is actually rising. We were just ranked as the 
best place to live in America," Tvert said. "The idea that businesses 
would not relocate here or conferences wouldn't be held here was 
untrue. In fact, attendees at conferences are now offered pot tours 
as day trips."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom