- http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2012/02/22/teen-marijuana-use-harms-brain-increases-addiction/
- http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2012/02/04/teen-marijuana-use-spikes-along-with-expulsions-arrests/
- http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2012/02/13/marijuana-paradox-college-town-ban-conservative-cannabis-mecca/
- http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2012/02/04/freshman-faced-felonies-after-school-marijuana-bust/
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Rebecca Jones helped write the stories and gather data, Nancy Mitchell and Burt Hubbard helped gather data, map it and create searchable databases. Nancy Mitchell served as project editor. Photographer and Videographer, Joe Mahoney also contributed to our series. Diane Carman, Laura Frank and Alan Gottlieb contributed as editors.
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Our media outlet worked with partners at two other nonprofit news sites to investigate how Colorado’s medical marijuana industry has impacted teens and children. We ran our first story on Jan. 12, 2012 and continued to release subsequent stories throughout January and February. The primary story centering on health effects ran on Feb. 22, 2012.
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Our three-month investigation on the impacts of medical marijuana on young people found that schools in Colorado have seen a 45 percent increase in drug violations over the past four years as the state’s medical marijuana industry has exploded. Marijuana storefronts opened at more than 700 locations in recent years, some yards away from schools where students flowed out into the streets over lunch and before and after school. Interviews with school officials and dozens of young people uncovered a dramatic change in attitudes among young people. Teens claimed that marijuana is healthy and boosts their performance in school. They said it’s easy to get, cheap and more potent than street weed. Many said they seek out high-grade “organic” medical marijuana and can get it out the back door” either from older siblings, friends who work at grow facilities or parents’ stashes. Contrary to perceptions among young people, our investigation found that marijuana use harms teen brain development and that young people who try marijuana in their teens have a greater chance of addiction that those who use marijuana as adults.”
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
We used the Colorado Open Records Act to obtain records on disciplinary incidents at schools across Colorado and also cross-referenced these incidents with arrest data from the Denver Police Department. We then mapped the data and focused on schools and districts where the marijuana incidents at schools and the concentration of dispensaries were highest. We found that Denver, Colorado Springs and the Aspen area had large spikes in marijuana discipline cases as shops opened in great numbers in these communities. The data was essential to our project. Users of our sites liked exploring the map and searching for data about their schools and their neighborhoods.
Explain types of human sources used.
We spent three months on the project interviewing school officials, drug experts, teens and young people, doctors who treat kids with drug problems, prosecutors and marijuana industry representatives. We visited marijuana dispensaries and grow facilities, interviewed doctors who recommend cannabis to patients and hung out with kids during lunch breaks as they used marijuana outside schools. Many claimed it was “healthy” and many said it helped them “focus” in school.
Results:
About two months into our investigation after we shared the results of our investigation with federal prosecutors in Colorado to get reaction from them, they began to crack down on marijuana dispensary owners who owned facilities within 1,000 feet of schools. The U.S. Attorney has since ordered the closure of about 100 dispensaries. We cannot say that this crackdown was a direct result of our investigation. But the timing was interesting. Information about impacts of the marijuana industry on children and teens became central during a campaign this year for legalization of recreational marijuana. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper opposed the ballot measure citing concerns about marijuana use and teen brain development even though legalization applies to adults only. Advocates for marijuana legalization won in November and this issue remains a very hot topic both here in Colorado and across the U.S. Colorado lawmakers are considering enacting legislation in 2013 to set legal limits for drivers with marijuana found in their system while health experts are trying to figure out how legalization of recreational pot could impact young people.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
We did not have any corrections. We have received multiple requests for information about our project. The BBC is sending a crew from London to Colorado in January to do a documentary about marijuana legalization and impacts on young people. They have been in touch with us extensively to learn about our reporting and to set up interviews with many of our sources. Marijuana industry representatives claim that marijuana use among kids has gone down in states which allow medical marijuana, but health experts differ sharply with their interpretation of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Debate over the impacts of the marijuana industry on children and young people is lively, to say the least, in Colorado.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
The movement to legalize both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana s growing across the country. I would urge reporters to obtain school suspension data and speak with young people in their communities. On the one hand, marijuana proponents argue that marijuana is relatively safe and that legalization saves money by keeping low-level drug users out of expensive prisons. On the other hand, marijuana opponents worry that children and teens have become the collateral damage as states hungry for tax money increasingly allow marijuana businesses to thrive.