Colorado’s two Senators can barely contain themselves in championing national pot legalization. They want it yesterday, no matter what it means for the country’s 74 million children, the growing homeless crisis or the soaring traffic fatalities involving drugs.

While introducing a federal legalization bill in December, Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper said it would “replicate our success nationally” – referring to Colorado’s 10-year legalization fiasco. Hickenlooper’s bill comes after Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet led a 2019 federal legalization effort called “The Marijuana Justice Act.”

Bennet said his bill would help “communities of color.”

“The Marijuana Justice Act is the most far-reaching marijuana legislation ever to be introduced in Congress,” Bennet boasted in a written statement.

Marijuana does no more good for “communities of color” than for those lacking color, but legalizing it clearly bodes well for staying in office. Politicians benefit by pandering to Big Marijuana the way their predecessors leveraged Big Tobacco in the mid-20th century. Back then, they insisted tobacco was good for us.

While continuing their crusade for federal legalization, Bennet and Hickenlooper should talk to parents with small children who have been hospitalized for exposure to the drug.

The Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety office reports an increase in THC ingestion by children 5 and younger of 170% from 2017 to 2021. The increase comes after the legislature enacted regulatory measures, in apparent futility, to keep edibles out of the mouths of babes.

Gummies, cookies, drinks, and other treats infused with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) caused most of the incidents of accidental poisonings of children, the agency reports. This, despite regulatory reforms that mandate child-proof packaging and forbid marketing techniques that might appeal to children.

Dr. Marit Tweet, a medical toxicologist at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine who studies marijuana trends, told Kaiser Health News the packaging regulations fail because children don’t read packages. Furthermore, she said, parents don’t know how to store marijuana safely and leave it around unpackaged.

“It’s more readily available and more of an opportunity for the children to get into,” Tweet said, linking the increase in childhood exposure to legalization.

Despite the troubling increases in early childhood exposure to THC, no one has introduced state legislation this session to address the concern.

Meanwhile, the congressional push for more marijuana continues. If we “replicate our success nationally,” we can expect more ingestion of THC by young children.

By replicating Colorado, we can also expect a massive increase in traffic fatalities involving impaired drivers – something like the 44% increase Colorado has suffered over the past four years. Research shows 45% of impaired drivers test positive for dual substances, most commonly alcohol and pot.

As a candidate for Denver mayor in 2003, Hickenlooper pledged to end homelessness. He failed, but there may be a silver lining. If the country replicates our marijuana “success,” maybe some other jurisdiction will knock Colorado off the top-10 list of states with the highest homeless rates – all of which followed Colorado’s lead and legalized pot.

“In states with RCL (recreational cannabis legalization) adoption such as California, Oregon, and Washington, total combined unsheltered homelessness increased by 18% from 2015 to 2017,” explains a recent study out of Clemson University.

“Similarly, Colorado adopted RCL in 2012 and saw a 13% increase of homelessness between 2015 and 2016… Whether by population rebalancing effects, rising drug consumption and crime, or changes in cultural attitudes, the results of the model strongly suggest that RCL adoption may cause an increase in aggregate rates of homelessness.”

To get more children on THC, more traffic fatalities and more homeless camps from sea to sea, the formula is simple. Take the advice of Colorado’s senators and “replicate our success nationally.”

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board