A myth long propagated by the pot lobby has been busted by new, groundbreaking research. It turns out legalization — something the Centennial State did in 2012 — has indeed increased marijuana use. A lot.

As reported in Friday’s Gazette, a study by the University Colorado Boulder and the University of Minnesota showed that marijuana use rose nearly 25% in states where recreational marijuana is legal compared to states where it is banned.

No surprise, really. It seems to be an unfortunate feature of human nature: Open the floodgates on a destructive drug that is alluring to some people, and more of them are bound to try it.

Yet, Big Marijuana as well as the industry’s apologists long have insisted that legalization doesn’t substantially alter use. Only pot users continue to partake after legalization, they claim. That propaganda is intended to allay reasonable fears among everyone from pols to parents that legitimizing pot use not only increases its availability but also sends out a message it’s OK.

The industry’s pitch is disingenuous, to say the least, considering the real goal is to sell as much marijuana to as many people as possible. And like Big Tobacco, Big Marijuana knows full well it won’t prosper for long unless it cultivates the next generation of potheads among today’s youth.

The new study’s researchers said their findings provide some of the strongest evidence to date that legalization leads to increased use. They documented marijuana use among 3,400 adult twins before and after 2014, two years after Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. Twins were used because it made it easier to control outside factors. Twins share the same genes, community norms and parental influences.

“This is the first study to confirm that the association between legal cannabis and increased use holds within families in genetically identical individuals,” said co-author John Hewitt, a professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at CU Boulder.

While blowing up Big Marijuana’s marketing mythology is gratifying, the research findings are nevertheless troubling given the alarming impact of legalized pot on our state.

A landmark study of 26,000 impaired-driving cases in Colorado in 2019 showed 45% of drivers tested positive for more than one substance, according to the state’s Division of Criminal Justice. The most common combination was alcohol and pot. Just since 2019, there has been a 44% increase in fatalities in Colorado involving an impaired driver, according to state data.

Meanwhile, a 2019 study of Colorado medical and recreational dispensaries found both types of storefronts were associated with statistically significant increases in neighborhood crime.

Today’s high-potency pot also contributes to psychosis, and research shows pot use beginning earlier in life can play a role in the emergence of violent behavior.

But there’s also a silver lining: Despite the fact that legalization leads to more pot consumption, some other factors evidently have been putting a crimp in pot sales in our state.

As The Gazette also has reported, retail marijuana sales have been declining for months though it’s not clear why. Perhaps, in post-pandemic Colorado, people no longer have reason to feel confined to their homes or cut off from entertainment. Other, healthier pastimes once again can compete for their recreation dollars; no point in just sitting around getting high.

Whatever the reason, we’ll take it. What’s bad for the cynical pot industry is good for Colorado.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board