By Jane Wells | Executive Director and Filmmaker
It has been a year since full legalization of cannabis in Canada, and nearly six years in Colorado. The questions raised in our film Pot Luck: The Altered State of Colorado still persist: is full recreational legalization of cannabis and all its related products a good thing?
Business has been fueling the move to legalization of cannabis far more than the pressing need for criminal justice reform after the failed “war on drugs”. And it is business that may ultimately cause the greatest harm from cannabis. The market value of cannabis stocks has been declining in recent weeks, prompting investors to look for greater internal oversight. What comes next cannot augur well for the consumer or for public health, if bottom line profits infect the production standards of cannabis industry.
In California the black market is thriving by undercutting legal cannabis. Black market product has zero health regulation. While we still do not know for certain what the health benefits of cannabis may be, we are learning there are significant contaminants showing up in unregulated CBD and THC cannabis products.
Our project continues to monitor these pressing issues and we hope to film more in 2020 covering the looming public health threats posed by contaminated products. Meanwhile we have been raising public awareness through print and online journalism and distribution of our film.
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