Colorado’s ever-pragmatic Gov. Jared Polis is well aware of the threat the cynical marijuana industry poses to our kids. But he also must figure it’s toothpaste that ain’t going back in the tube — recreational pot was legalized in our state well before he was elected — so he might as well make the best of it. And who knows? Maybe it could be leveraged at some point to stoke the Gen Z vote for his rumored presidential ambitions.

Which could explain his continued support for a pending move by the Biden administration to “reschedule” marijuana under federal law, effectively decriminalizing it from a a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance. Polis even has gone so far as to declare — glibly, if inaccurately — “While opioids killed more than 80,000 people last year, cannabis use killed no one.”

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That was in a letter he signed onto with five fellow Democratic governors last December urging President Biden to follow through on steps by his administration to downgrade the federal criminal status of marijuana. The policy shift is intended to remove banking barriers and other financial and legal hurdles to the marijuana industry in states like Colorado, where it’s legal.

As we observed here at the time, it all amounts to whistling past the graveyard.

Scientific evidence is mounting, and a consensus in the medical world is growing, about the devastating impact of marijuana use on our youth’s mental health. Dipping tax revenue from legal pot sales in Colorado is amounting to a few drops in the budgetary bucket. Meanwhile, it is now easier for a middle-schooler in our state to stash a small plastic jar of legally retailed, super-potent pot concentrate in his backpack — than to steal a bottle of mom and dad’s beer.

The tragic consequences are clear.

According to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment’s Violent Death Reporting System, 42.9% of Colorado teens 15-19 years old who die by suicide have marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient, THC, in their system at the time of death. For Hispanic teens in that age range, the number climbs to 49%. For Black teens, stunningly, it’s almost 67%.

And that’s not even to mention the pot-induced carnage on Colorado roadways.

“Cannabis use killed no one,” Governor? Really?

A report this week in Colorado Politics notes the Biden administration may have run into a hurdle with its plans to implement the new, relaxed pot regulations by Sept. 20. Critics of the imminent development — including one of Big Marijuana’s biggest foes, the advocacy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana — reportedly may push for extending the public comment period on the rules. That could delay their implementation past Election Day.

The administration may indeed be hoping, as its critics charge, that the Sept. 20 target for de facto decriminalization turns into a political payday on Nov. 5 by shoring up Biden’s faltering support among young voters.

Critics of the move, in turn, may be hoping a delay — and Biden’s defeat — could smother the proposal for good.

The most compelling argument against rescheduling is it would be a boon to a marijuana industry that already has done so much damage to Colorado kids — and would be empowered to wreak more havoc on children across the country.

Our own politically savvy governor must know all that. But it’s a safe bet he first wants to gauge how the whole issue plays out for the White House’s current occupant.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board