Surprising Truths About Legalizing Cannabis (video)
In 2012, Colorado legalized cannabis and kickstarted a multibillion-dollar industry with every product imaginable — brownies, gummy bears, granola bars, even lube! But to say that we’ve “legalized cannabis” is mistaken — we’ve commercialized THC. In this fascinating talk, expert Ben Cort examines the impacts of this growing new industry on everything from policing & arrest rates to LGBTQ issues. Sober since 1996, Ben Cort has seen the devastation that substance abuse can bring first hand as well as the joy that is recovery. He spent the last 10 years inside nonprofit drug treatment and education programs like Phoenix Multisport, Stout Street Foundation, and The University of Colorado Hospital. He is the author of Weed, INC., a professional speaker, and a frequent guest in the media. Ben is a husband, father of three, and an avid sportsman. He enjoys fly fishing, hunting, mountaineering, and bike racing.
Takeaways:
- CBD is where most of the medical benefits are, but we prefer the psychoactive THC
- The cannabis we use is not “natural,” it’s far too high in THC
- Beware of the chemical being used to grow the plants
- Rich white people are controlling the market
- Denver’s pot business caters mostly to low-income, minority neighborhoods
- Marijuana-related youth arrest rates have increased among minorities
- African Americans +58%
- Hispanics +29%
- Caucasian -8%