The Deepening Problem of Marijuana

Recent news reports from Colorado have revealed that apparently, residents of that state were misled about the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana. One of the promises of legalization advocates was that legalizing the drug would bring its distribution under control. In other words, legal weed would run black market weed out of business. These new reports show that nothing of the kind has happened.

In 2016, Newsweek reported that 28% of the marijuana market in Colorado takes place outside of legal channels. In 2015, there was very nearly a billion dollars in legal sales of marijuana. Add on the 28% illicit market and you get $1.274 billion in sales. It seems that the attempt to control and restrict sales has created an opening for sellers who operate outside those restrictions and taxes.

Overflow to Adjacent States

Of course, Colorado’s massive marijuana industry has a significant effect on neighboring states. Anyone from a neighboring state who wants to purchase or consume the drug is free to simply drive across the border. After all, it’s only about 100 miles from the border of Oklahoma to the nearest Colorado pot store. Despite the fact that it’s illegal to transport marijuana into a state where it cannot be legally possessed, it happens all the time.

Attorneys General from Oklahoma and Nebraska reported to USA Today that their jails are being overwhelmed as a result of Colorado marijuana being trafficked through their states. These two states attempted to file a lawsuit against officials in Colorado, saying that Colorado’s choices are swamping their law enforcement personnel and courts, without any of the tax advantages that result from being the state where the drug was originally sold.

This vehicle from Colorado travelled out of state with 123 pounds of marijuana packed in it.
This vehicle registered in Colorado was stopped out of state with 123 pounds of marijuana packed into it. Two Colorado residents were arrested. 
 

Additionally, Oklahoma is on a main conduit for multiple drugs being trafficked out of Mexico and into the U.S. With its crisscrossing interstate highways, Oklahoma City is a major hub for drugs headed into the Midwest and Northeast from Mexico and South America. This means that additional marijuana comes in from traffickers to the south—along with other drugs like methamphetamine and heroin.

Marijuana Use at Home in Oklahoma

Historically, marijuana use has been lower in Oklahoma than in most other U.S. states. But since 2005, addiction treatment admissions for pot have been creeping up. Also on the increase are admissions for prescription opioids and methamphetamine, while admissions for alcohol as a primary drug causing addiction are declining. Heroin treatment admissions are also inching up slightly.

There’s no state in the U.S. that deserves to be in the cross-hairs of drug traffickers, no population of Americans that deserves to have drug dealers selling to both young and old citizens. Preventing further growth of this problem requires keeping young people from ever starting to use the most common gateway substances—tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. And the newest gateway substance—prescription drugs. It will take every parent and school’s attention to focus on the elimination of substance abuse by youth.

When drug use is well established and addiction is the current problem, professional support helps a person through the pitfalls and challenges of getting off all substances. After that, one must then learn the skills to help prevent any feeling of needing drugs in the future. At Narconon Arrowhead in Canadian, Oklahoma, this has been our job for more than two decades. In other locations, Narconon rehab facilities have been hard at work for fifty years. It’s this extensive history of walking the addicted out of their drug-using background and into a new, strong sobriety that enables us to understand both the problem and the solution.

In our program, we avoid the use of any medications like Suboxone, buprenorphine, Antabuse or methadone. We help people cleanse their bodies of old drug residues with a sauna-based step that helps greatly with cravings. And our life skills training provides the critical skills they will need to stay on that sober path in the future.

When someone you care about in Oklahoma—or any state—needs help to recover their true nature and productivity, call us. We’ll explain how our program helps shine the healthy light of sobriety on a life once again. Call 1-800-468-6933 today.



http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHsaeTotals2013/NSDUHsaeTotals2013.pdf

http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/2002-2012_TEDS_State/2002_2012_Treatment_Episode_Data_Set_State.pdf


AUTHOR
KH

Karen Hadley

For more than a decade, Karen has been researching and writing about drug trafficking, drug abuse, addiction and recovery. She has also studied and written about policy issues related to drug treatment.

NARCONON ARROWHEAD

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION