Folklore claims Nero fiddled while Rome burned. While the United States descends into drug use and addiction, The Denver Post doesn’t just fiddle. It adds fuel to the fire.
JAMA Psychiatry published survey results October 21 reporting that adult use of marijuana doubled in the last decade, and that 30% of users meet criteria for Marijuana Use Disorder: NIH Press Release.
The Denver Post featured the JAMA story on its front page the next day, offering only four sentences describing the JAMA survey. Denver Post story. Most of the Post’s story revolved around a Gallup poll released the same day, finding that most Americans think marijuana use should be legal, something they’ve been reporting since 2011.
The JAMA study was led by Dr. Bridget Grant, who reported that 30% of users meet the criteria for Marijuana Use Disorder, colloquially referred to as addiction. Addiction levels are even higher in the youth, black and Hispanic segments of society. The Denver Post didn’t feel this was worth mentioning in their story. Nor the toll this addiction takes on our national culture and capabilities, to say nothing about the effect on the individuals involved.
If The Denver Post had any belief in journalistic integrity, balance or objectivity in marijuana reporting, it would have noted the further effect marijuana use has on highway safety. During the same decade studied by Dr. Grant and Gallup, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that marijuana involvement of drivers in fatal crashes where alcohol and marijuana use was tested also nearly doubled:
| Year | Drivers | % DUI (>.08 BAC) | % Marijuana | % > .08 BAC & MJ |
| 2003 | 48,493 | 32.6% | 7.6% | 5.8% |
| 2013 | 34,347 | 32.0% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| Change ’03 – ’13 | Dn 29.1% | Dn 1.8% | Up 76% | Up 134% |
Yes, it’s true that NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) quoted above was never designed to collect DUID data competently. But it’s all we have, since the State of Colorado makes absolutely no attempt to measure, analyze and report on state-wide DUID data. And that doesn’t stop some in the marijuana community from misleading the public by claiming that the drop in overall fatalities is due to increasing marijuana use, rather than being due to better enforcement and education, as well as better highway and vehicle design.