The other side of the story

There’s been a flurry of headlines in recent weeks about a new survey of homeless jail inmates in Colorado who said legal marijuana played a role in their decision to move to Colorado.

Dig a little deeper, however, and the study shows that most of the respondents were here before cannabis was legal. And it found no significant difference in cannabis being a draw for homeless vs. non-homeless transplants. Read Westword Story »

As Gov. John Hickenlooper is quoted as saying, “We’re attracting a lot of people, and when you attract a lot of people you get some homeless people.” Read More »

Speaking of half truths 

That leads us to another of the opposition’s favorite but unsubstantiated claims: that legal marijuana has caused emergency room visits to skyrocket.

Politifact breaks down that one, noting “it is impossible to say that marijuana is the cause of these visits.” Read the Story »

And, debunking one more myth

A new analysis from the civic data analytics site LiveStories finds that while marijuana legalization has led to higher rates of cannabis consumption in Colorado and other states with similar laws, there’s no evidence it’s leading to higher use of more addictive drugs like heroin and cocaine. Read the Westword Story »