As we approach the fifth anniversary of the first two states to legalize marijuana Washington and Colorado its instructive for other states to learn from their example.

In March 2017, Washingtons Office of Financial Management produced a PowerPoint presentation entitled, Monitoring Impacts of Recreational Marijuana Legalization .

From that presentation are charts that contradict the predictions of failure from opponents of Initiative 502, the ballot question in 2012 that legalized marijuana in Washington.

In Part I , I broke down the biggest fears offered about the effect of marijuana legalization on childrens use. In this Part II, Ill give you the a look at how legalization has affected children who do use marijuana. In Part III , Ill show you what effect marijuana legalization had on traffic safety. Finally, in Part IV , Ill show you how much marijuana tax revenue the state of Washington has earned.

Legalization Did Increase the Honest Reporting of Marijuana Overdoses

One fear promulgated by opponents of legalization was that children would accidentally ingest confections infused with cannabis and be sickened. Frightening reports of cannabis-infused gummy bears and other candies being introduced into unsuspecting kids Halloween treats have been circulating since medical marijuana began in the 1990s.