1. Legalizing Marijuana in New Mexico: Protecting Our Youth & Public Health.
Emily Kaltenbach
April 24, 2018

2. The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) envisions a just society in which the use and regulation of drugs are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.
Our mission is to advance those policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies.

3. Why Should We Legalize? Reduce harm: The criminalization of marijuana use disproportionately harms young people and people of color, sponsors massive levels of violence and corruption, and fails to curb youth access. Create jobs: Legalizing and regulating marijuana will bring one of the nation's largest cash crops under the rule of law. This will create jobs and economic opportunities in the formal economy instead of the illicit market. Save money: Scarce law enforcement resources will be better used to ensure public safety while reducing corrections and court costs. State and local governments would acquire significant new sources of tax revenue from regulating marijuana sales. Promote consumer safety: Marijuana product testing is becoming a standard requirement for legalized marijuana markets. This means consumers are better informed about the marijuana they use.

4. What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D. C
What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D.C. On November 6, 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first two states – and first two places in the world – to legalize marijuana for adult use. Two years later Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C. followed suit. In 2016 voters in four additional states - California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada – also approved ballot measures legalizing marijuana. In January 2018, Vermont became the first state to legalize marijuana through a state legislature. More states are expected to legalize in the near future.

5. What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D. C
What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D.C. Evidence shows that marijuana legalization is working so far. States are saving money and protecting the public by comprehensively regulating marijuana for adult use. This success has likely contributed to the historically high levels of public support for marijuana legalization in the U.S., which has steadily grown to an all-time high of 64%. The majority of Americans – including 51% of Republicans – now support marijuana legalization.

6. What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D. C
What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D.C. Youth use is stable nationally and in states that have legalized marijuana. Calls to poison centers tiny compared to the overall number of calls they get for household products. Proactive measures in legislation: labeling and testing standards, child-proof packaging, requirements, handling, checking for proof of age. Opioid related harm reduction (lower mortality, fewer hospital visits).

7. What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D.C.

8. What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D. C
What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D.C. YOUTH MARIJUANA USE IS STABLE. Youth marijuana use rates have remained stable, nationally and in states that have legalized marijuana for adults age 21 and older. According to the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 21.7% of American high school students used marijuana in the past month and this rate has been consistent over the past decade. In Washington, Colorado and Alaska, rates of marijuana use among high school students largely resemble national rates. These results are promising, suggesting that fears of widespread increases in use have not come to fruition.
In Oregon, Nevada, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., marijuana regulatory programs are not yet established or are so new that they are unlikely to have affected youth use rates in an immediately measurable way. While rates of use vary widely in these states, they have mostly stabilized or declined over the years leading up to legalization.

9. What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D. C
What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D.C. YOUTH MARIJUANA USE IS STABLE.
In Oregon, Nevada, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., marijuana regulatory programs are not yet established or are so new that they are unlikely to have affected youth use rates in an immediately measurable way. While rates of use vary widely in these states, they have mostly stabilized or declined over the years leading up to legalization.

10. What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D. C
What We Know About Marijuana Legalization in Eight States & D.C. MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION IS LINKED TO LOWER RATES OF OPIOID-RELATED HARM. Increased access to marijuana has been associated with reductions in some of the most troubling harms associated with opioids, including opioid overdose deaths and untreated opioid use disorders. In states with medical marijuana access, overdose death rates are almost 25% lower than in states with no legal access to marijuana, and the reductions in overdose death rates strengthened over time. Legal access to medical marijuana has been associated with a 23% reduction in opioid dependence or abuse-related hospitalizations and 15% fewer opioid treatment admissions. An analysis of opioid overdose deaths in Colorado found that after marijuana was legalized for adult use there was a reduction of 0.7 deaths per month in the state and that the decades-long upward trend of overdoses began to decline after 2014, the first year of marijuana retail sales in the state.

11. MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION IS LINKED TO LOWER RATES OF OPIOID-RELATED HARM.

12. LEGALIZATION HAS NOT MADE OUR ROADS LESS SAFE
LEGALIZATION HAS NOT MADE OUR ROADS LESS SAFE. The total number of arrests for driving under the influence, for alcohol and other drugs, has declined in Colorado and Washington, the first two states to regulate marijuana for adult use.

13. Crash Fatalities Colorado Roadways
There is no clear correlation between marijuana legalization and crash rates.
Notes below from: Mike Van Dyke, Ph.D., CIH Branch Chief, CO Dept. of Health
Presence of cannabinoids does not necessarily indicate impairment. The reporting mechanism does not consistently capture if positive test was for active THC or a metabolite.
Driver may have been under the influence of more than one drug.
Approximately 46% of drivers are tested for drugs after a fatal crash. Deceased drivers are more likely to be tested (80% reported tested by a coroner) than surviving drivers (20% reported tested by law enforcement).
In 2013, CDOT became much more assertive in obtaining test results from coroners and law enforcement. They have been able to collect information on 10% more drivers, which makes comparisons of total fatalities to years prior to 2012 difficult.
No update available for this slide
Example explanation of graph: In 2015, 115 cannabinoid positive drivers caused 125 fatalities.
Total fatalities increased from 546 in 2015 to 608 in 2016 (+11%); fatalities with cannabinoid positive drivers increased 26% from 2015 to 2016.
Presence of cannabinoids does not necessarily indicate impairment. The reporting mechanism does not consistently capture if positive test was for active THC or a metabolite.
Driver may have been under the influence of more than one drug.
Approximately 46% of drivers are tested for drugs after a fatal crash. Deceased drivers are more likely to be tested (80% reported tested by a coroner) than surviving drivers (20% reported tested by law enforcement).
In 2013, CDOT became much more assertive in obtaining test results from coroners and law enforcement. They have been able to collect information on 10% more drivers, which makes comparisons of total fatalities to years prior to 2012 difficult.

14. CO TREATMENT ADMISSION RATE
Reporting marijuana as drug of abuse by age group
Updated 5/17-MV

15. CO’s Education Campaign

16. Questions & Comments? Emily Kaltenbach State Director, New Mexico