It is clear that marijuana being illegal isn’t going to stop people from using it. With three states putting the option to vote to legalize for recreational use on the ballot and 17 states already hashing out the issues of medical marijuana, it’s time to seek to control marijuana distribution and use rather than banning the use.

Amendment 64 on the Colorado ballot calls for exactly that: the regulation of marijuana. It states that only persons 21 years of age or older would be able to use it in limited amounts.

It will provide licensing for cultivation, manufacturing, testing and retail facilities associated with marijuana, in addition to giving local government the power to regulate or prohibit these facilities.

It also allows taxing of marijuana and requires the first $40 million in revenue raised annually be credited to the public school capital assistance fund. It is not simply an amendment that will allow whomever to smoke whenever they want. The sale, distribution and growing will be regulated in the same way that the government can regulate alcohol use.

Driving while impaired, selling to minors and possession while underage would all still be illegal.

While we can argue about the specific definitions and legal issues associated with the Amendment, the fact is that it is high time we legalize in Colorado and remove the outdated ideas surrounding marijuana.

Colorado has the most developed and regulated medical marijuana industry in the country. Since the medical marijuana industry has grown in Colorado, the most recent tax revenue has been estimated at $20 million. The jobs that have been created in Colorado from the medical marijuana industry are a good indicator of the jobs that will continue to be created by legalizing.

When medical marijuana was legalized people in Colorado began referring to it as the “Green Rush.”

By allowing people to buy something in high demand, the tax on it alone provides revenue to the economy.

Marijuana should be legalized because legalization gives Colorado better opportunity for regulating it. The medical marijuana industry has benefited Colorado and her citizens, and by legalizing, we are given the opportunity to expand the market and increase the tax revenue on it.

While people may argue that it’s dangerous because marijuana is a gateway drug, it is no more dangerous than someone who drinks alcohol becoming an alcoholic.

The ultimate responsibility still falls on the user.

When alcohol is consumed there is a chance the user can abuse it and become an alcoholic. It’s the same concept with marijuana.

Some even argue that the use of marijuana is safer than alcohol. Alcohol can lead to binge drinking and alcohol poisoning in numerous cases, while it’s not even possible to overdose on marijuana.

Prohibition of alcohol didn’t stop people from drinking any more than keeping marijuana illegal stops people from smoking.

People will always find a way. Rather than denying that it’s going to happen, the government should face the facts and let the people speak.

Even though the use of marijuana is still considered a violation of several federal laws and is still considered by regressive, knuckle-dragging puritans to be as dangerous of a substance as methamphetamines, the federal government has not stepped in to stop the 17 states that have already legalized medical marijuana.

The market for it would be too difficult to shut down because demand would be high.

The free market has spoken; where there are consumers there is power.

Ignoring the use of marijuana and operating under the assumption that keeping it illegal is going to stop its use is ignorant.

By regulating it, it will become more conceivable to keep the substance out of the hands of minors by cracking down on illegal distribution of marijuana.

It’s time for people to open their eyes and realize that this isn’t something that is going to die down or go away if we ignore it long enough.

The ballot measure is not simply unleashing people to be free to smoke marijuana when and where they want.

As far as more people using marijuana or using it as a gateway, responsibility of use is still up to the user.