Washington, you have been duped! Legalizing marijuana was supposed to be the panacea to cure all what ails Washington with regard to this harmless drug; no more black market, no more harsh criminal penalties, and less teen drug use. With sales to open soon, we are already seeing the stark reality of our decision. New cannabis retailers are predicting they will only capture 25 percent of the marijuana market. That’s right, they themselves admit 75 percent of the market will stay underground, and for how long? Check that one prediction as bad! All legalization did was open a new market to those law-abiding citizens too skittish to buy on the black market — usage and crime is not reduced.
The “educational advertisements” warning our youth of the perils of using marijuana have already hit the street, and who is paying the bill for those, and why are they needed? Who in the world thinks our youth who want to “act grown up” are going to pay attention to warnings from adults who condone and use the drug themselves, knowing these same adults used it as kids too?
DOT also wants to get a baseline for who will be driving impaired, so what do they do? A survey of course, but in order to get people to participate in finding out if they are driving drunk or stoned, now they have to pay each person $60 to answer questions and have their mouths swabbed, anonymously of course!
In Colorado the legal market has created a secondary black market for surrounding states Nebraska, Arizona and Utah. Exactly why would I want to risk buying from a criminal thug tied to organized crime when I can buy from a legal grower in Colorado? Absolutely brilliant! Yeah, the money is going to roll in, but Washington will never see any benefit, as we now fight two black markets, and the already understood health perils this drug presents to our youth. Well done Washington, your selfish ambitions are coming to fruition!
Dan Wenceslao
Stanwood
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