Fourteen years after Colorado became one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, the executive director of an organization focused on educating parents about the drug’s effects on developing brains is reflecting on how much has changed in nearly a decade.

Henny Lasley, cofounder of One Chance to Grow Up, said among the biggest developments is the increased potency of marijuana products and the rise of vaping, particularly among kids and teens.

“A group of concerned parents came together because our state had no roadmap about how this was going to impact kids and communities,” she said of marijuana legalization. “Our focus is truly exclusively on children; we do not get into the pros and cons of legalization of adult use, and the primary reason for that is because we know that the developing brain is especially susceptible to THC.”

Over the years, Lasley and her group have pushed for several pieces of legislation at the state legislature. They included 2021’s House Bill 1317, which authorized the Colorado School of Public Health to conduct a study on high-potency marijuana and required doctors to conduct an assessment of a patient’s mental health history when making medical marijuana recommendations.

The bill also imposes additional requirements on medical marijuana patients under 21, which Lasley said “really dried up the flood of THC into our high schools.”

One Chance also helped pass legislation requiring labels on products containing THC and reducing the amount of THC in medical marijuana products for patients under 21.

The group advocated for federal legislation passed last November that closed the “intoxicating hemp loophole” created through the 2018 Farm Bill. The federal law bans hemp-derived THC products, such as Delta-8.

Lasley called the federal legislation “probably the biggest win that we have seen in drug policy over the past 15 years.”

This year in Colorado, One Chance has two main goals — convince the Colorado General Assembly to extend funding for the University of Colorado’s Anschutz School of Public Health’s “The Tea on THC” ad campaign. The group is also gearing up for a fight over a yet-to-be-introduced bill that would allow hemp-derived THC beverages to be sold in liquor stores and restaurants.

The “Tea on THC” campaign seeks to educate the public about the potential effects of high doses of THC — but do so in a nonjudgmental, non-vindictive way, Lasley said.

“We are a big believer that education and information is power, and it can be presented in a way where it’s not punitive in any manner,” she said. “That’s really our goal. Regardless of how any adult feels about the adult use of marijuana products, we should all collectively, including the marijuana industry, agree that it’s not good for the developing brain.”

White Lasley admitted she can’t know for sure what the next 15 years of marijuana policy would bring, but she believes there will be plenty more scientific studies pointing to the negative impacts THC can have on children.

“We think that there will be continued, stepped-up enforcement and additional regulations that will help protect consumers and kids,” she said. “Even if they do consume marijuana products, our job is to help parents understand that we’re not talking about their behavior, we’re talking about making sure that they understand the impacts on the developing brain.”