The Columbian, 18 Mar 2013 – The Colorado Springs news outlet CBS4 reported on March 6 that a prominent local drug testing company, Conspire, has documented a spike in children using pot following the passage of Colorado’s Amendment 64. Conspire is now receiving requests for drug testing from school districts on a weekly basis, not monthly as before. One high school student states, "I’ve seen a lot more people just walking down the street smoking joints." Conspire staff are finding unprecedented levels of THC in kids: "a typical kid is between 50 and 100 nanograms. Now we’re seeing these up in the over 500, 700, 800." Jo McGuire of Conspire describes the danger to the human brain: "In the past we’ve used the term stoner or fried … because you literally take your brain and you rob it of the ability to fire the way it’s supposed to." McGuire expresses alarm that these stoned high school kids are driving after school.

The Columbian, 03 Oct 2012 – Reading the Sept. 30 editorial, "Legalize & Tax: Marijuana Initiative 502 offers the chance to abandon prohibition as a lost cause," I am very disappointed that in endorsing Initiative 502 (which will legalize and tax marijuana), The Columbian made no mention of the increasing evidence that marijuana is a high-risk drug with high health and cost impacts for society. I have written previously about the studies linking marijuana use to schizophrenia. Recent studies now link the drug to testicular cancer and permanent lowering of IQ.