The Colorado Board of Education may discontinue the Colorado Healthy Kids survey, because of privacy concerns. The survey, a means to track substance abuse, is scheduled to come out this year. Since 2009, it has been coming out in odd-numbered years. Losing this survey would mean the state would no way of measuring youth trends from a statewide/regional perspective.
The next Colorado Healthy Kids survey might show how strongly the marijuana industry is having an influence on Colorado’s children. If the state doesn’t keep the survey, how can it judge what the legal recreational marijuana program is doing to its school children? The national survey showed that youth usage in Colorado went up sharply 5-10 years ago, during the period of medical marijuana expansion, while it remained rather flat nationwide. (see chart below) Continue reading Is the Marijuana Industry Trying to Grow, Stifle the Facts?