Hold your laughter and applause. This top-10 list isn’t funny at all. Jan. 1, 2024, marks a dubious anniversary: 10 years of legal marijuana sales in Colorado to adults 21 and older.

One Chance to Grow Up is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization formed after Colorado legalized recreational marijuana – and the governor-appointed advisory committee ranked impact on kids at the bottom of its concerns for implementation.

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Here are the pivotal moments we reflect upon from our decade-long effort to protect kids from the impacts of commercialized marijuana: 

1. Nineteen-year-old college student Levy Thamba leaps to his death from a Denver hotel balcony after eating a multi-serving pot cookie. His tragic death from acute psychosis came just three months into legal sales, sounding the alarm that commercialized marijuana is no longer mild “Woodstock weed.” Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division goes into emergency rule-making to demarcate servings of THC and encourage single-serving edibles.
2. Grocery store food items spiked with THC are banned in Colorado in 2015. Goodbye to THC Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, rainbow belts and other gummy candies. For other candies still allowed on the market, a universal symbol is developed to indicate the products contain the mind-altering chemical THC. Many states, but not all, follow this safety measure. 
3. Beginning in 2015, THC is the No. 1 substance found in toxicology reports for suicides of people ages 10 to 24 in Colorado, according to the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System. Funding for school-based mental health professionals is secured in 2017. Science shows the developing brain does not mature until 25. 
4. False messaging and media misrepresentation of legal marijuana as a natural, harmless drug motivates One Chance to Grow Up to create THCPhotos.org in 2018 to educate the public about the reality of today’s marijuana, which comes in hidden forms and unlimited potency. It features photos of products bought in Colorado and other states.
5. After asthma inhalers and nose sprays enter the adult-use marijuana market, Colorado regulators admit they can’t keep up with industry innovation. A state health official says regulating the industry is like “chasing cheetahs with butterfly nets.” States like Colorado without a pre-approval process for products are dependent on consumer complaints and the work of watchdog organizations that do secret shopping in the marketplace.
6. 2019: Colorado’s legislature mandates a pregnancy warning sign in marijuana stores after a study finds nearly 70% of stores recommend marijuana for pregnancy. U.S. Surgeon General releases a marijuana advisory stating, “No amount of marijuana use during pregnancy or adolescence is known to be safe.”
7. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issues a marijuana concentration report in 2020 that finds there is limited research on the safety or potential health effects of almost all products for sale in Colorado because they contain “high THC concentration” of 10% or more.
8. 2021: Colorado requires a mandatory consumer warning handout with purchase of marijuana concentrates that lists four risks from use: psychotic symptoms; mental health problems; uncontrolled and repetitive vomiting; and marijuana use disorder or dependence. And daily purchase limits for concentrates are drastically reduced.
9. Colorado kids are still enticed by THC-spiked sweets. A 2022 national study finds a 1,375% increase in five years (2017-2021) in poison control reports of accidental marijuana ingestion in kids under six. 
10. A 2023 audit of the MED finds not enough compliance checks around underage sales. Statistics confirm this. The bi-annual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey 2021 showed a significant increase in teens reporting they purchase marijuana from stores. Denver’s 420 event finally is age restricted, after One Chance to Grow Up presents evidence that public high school absenteeism is consistently higher on April 20.

We’ve had many policy wins over the years, some nasty fights and several heartbreaking losses. In the early days we thought we would be a temporary organization just around until the law was “right” and protections in place. How naive.

Even after a decade, the commercialization landscape is unstable and shifting. Colorado kids still face unacceptable risks. Every day is a struggle just to preserve existing protections. As the market goes through a predictable contraction after the initial speculative boom, the THC industry is increasingly pushing back against safeguards, blaming regulations for their industry’s woes.

As we look ahead to the next decade, we see much more work to be done to protect kids. When we look back in 2034, will we say that we did everything we could to protect Colorado kids, who have only one chance to grow up?

Rachel O‘Bryan is a co-founder and strategic projects director of One Chance to Grow Up. One Chance to Grow Up is in its 11th year of protecting kids from today‘s marijuana through transparency, education, empowerment and policy.