Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Colorado is making big money off marijuana sales, over $105 million in tax revenue for fiscal year 2016-17. That revenue is going into a "Marijuana Tax Cash Fund" that's being allocated a few different ways (as reported by Vice). Arguably the most meaningful, and exemplary for other states to follow, is funding opioid addiction treatment in the state's hardest-hit counties.
Gov. John Hickenlooper recently approved Senate Bill 74, which directs about $500,000 a year toward treatment and specialized training for healthcare professionals in two Colorado counties that have seen opioid overdose deaths double in the last 15 years. Combined, the two counties account for 18% of hospital admissions for heroin treatment, although they represent only 6% of the state's population.
This is an innovative use of legalized pot revenue that the rest of the country should be noticing. As I previously reported here at Forbes, the nation's general healthcare infrastructure is poorly equipped to handle the opioid epidemic. Addicts are ten times as likely to die in a general healthcare setting within four years compared to non-addicts, and twice as likely to die when treated in non-specialized clinics.
Failing to keep pace with the epidemic is putting enormous pressure on health resources that need additional funding to meet the challenge. Since revenue from marijuana sales is only going to increase (assuming state legalization continues gaining momentum), it provides an ideal funding resource to battle the opioid crisis, which is claiming more lives every day.
Fighting a drug problem with revenue from drug sales is no doubt controversial, but from a pragmatic standpoint it makes sense. According to the CDC, 91 people a day are dying in the U.S. from opioid overdoses, and the total number is likely much higher because many opioid-related deaths aren't immediately attributed to the drugs. For example, the CDC cites many deaths from pneumonia complications directly related to opioid use, because the drugs compromise the immune system. The true death toll from this epidemic is beyond recent comparison.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: How Cash From Marijuana Legalization Can Help Kill The Opioid Epidemic
Author: David DiSalvo
Contact: Contact Information
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: {{meta.title}}
Gov. John Hickenlooper recently approved Senate Bill 74, which directs about $500,000 a year toward treatment and specialized training for healthcare professionals in two Colorado counties that have seen opioid overdose deaths double in the last 15 years. Combined, the two counties account for 18% of hospital admissions for heroin treatment, although they represent only 6% of the state's population.
This is an innovative use of legalized pot revenue that the rest of the country should be noticing. As I previously reported here at Forbes, the nation's general healthcare infrastructure is poorly equipped to handle the opioid epidemic. Addicts are ten times as likely to die in a general healthcare setting within four years compared to non-addicts, and twice as likely to die when treated in non-specialized clinics.
Failing to keep pace with the epidemic is putting enormous pressure on health resources that need additional funding to meet the challenge. Since revenue from marijuana sales is only going to increase (assuming state legalization continues gaining momentum), it provides an ideal funding resource to battle the opioid crisis, which is claiming more lives every day.
Fighting a drug problem with revenue from drug sales is no doubt controversial, but from a pragmatic standpoint it makes sense. According to the CDC, 91 people a day are dying in the U.S. from opioid overdoses, and the total number is likely much higher because many opioid-related deaths aren't immediately attributed to the drugs. For example, the CDC cites many deaths from pneumonia complications directly related to opioid use, because the drugs compromise the immune system. The true death toll from this epidemic is beyond recent comparison.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: How Cash From Marijuana Legalization Can Help Kill The Opioid Epidemic
Author: David DiSalvo
Contact: Contact Information
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: {{meta.title}}
