# Colorado, Marijuana, and You **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869 "2014-01-15T14:25:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/21 "2014-01-16T17:26:17Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Alcohol is legal but you can be fired for being drunk. Oxycodone is legal with a Rx but you can be fired for showing up under the influence. > > You can get a DWI while taking OTC medication. Who said anything about showing up drunk? It doesn’t appear that’s what the OP was concerned about. He didn’t even want to acknowledge in a phone call whether he does it on his own time. Are you suggesting that he is really in danger of losing his job if he admits, on the phone at work, that he smokes up after work?\* My company knows I drink- I’ve gone drinking with my boss and the president and the CEO. If it’s legal to smoke up, why the secrecy when on the phone at work? \*Hypothetically. I don’t know anything about the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/22 "2014-01-16T17:57:23Z")
Seriously, Jester, how are things going out there? Is anything going to hell in a handbasket or is life proceeding along pretty much as before? With some predicting nirvana and others predicting armageddon, a lot of us are genuinely curious about the real effects of legalization. Yours is, after all, the great experiment; it’d be pretty foolish not to learn lessons from it. Serious observations from all Coloradoans/Washingtonians welcomed. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/23 "2014-01-16T18:18:29Z")
I had done some Google News searching for articles from Nebraska and Wyoming about the effects on their states. Lots of “Oh my GOD, it’s the end of the world! Pot will be everywhere!” to “Meh, business as usual”. Underlying theme/threat seemed to be that there would probably be more ‘routine’ traffic stops totally not looking for it. Still a whole lot of wait and see out there. It’s only been 2 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/24 "2014-01-16T18:18:56Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > A group of us at lunch were speculating about the logistics of finding some border town in Colorado, getting really baked, and then stumbling across into Utah and all getting married to each other. If Arizona and New Mexico were to legalize other things, like cock fighting and raw milk, we could have a whole Four Corners blowout. Does this end with Tom stumbling in with a very bedraggled chicken, and asking where’s that milk he’s supposed to fight? ---
**Author:** ![Acewiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f475e1/32.png) [@Acewiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acewiza)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/25 "2014-01-16T18:22:29Z")
It’s too early to tell. Status quo would seem to be the direction it’s going after only a couple weeks. I do however expect a rash of random drug tests to hit workers in sensitive occupations very soon. It will be a small bump in the road the ACLU uses for making a mountain out of a mole hill. ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/26 "2014-01-16T18:25:48Z")
I swear if I see another news story titled “Rocky Mountain High” I can’t be held responsible for my reaction… ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/27 "2014-01-16T19:33:21Z")
I haven’t smoked pot in over 10 years now, but in the intervening time I’ve worked in a lot of ‘drug free’ workplaces that state that they do drug testing, but never tested me even during the hiring process. For the most part they’re just covering their asses and/or meeting external requirements, and the only time you’re really going to be tested is if you have an accident on the job, or if your behavior indicates drug use. It’s more of an established ‘out’ so they can basically say “Look, you have a good setup here. You can smoke weed on your own time, kept your job, and we’ll look the other way until you make us look for a reason to fire you.” Security jobs are always ‘drug free’ and threaten frequent testing. In practice, you may or may not be tested when you’re hired, let alone at any time on the job. I worked with a lot of people who regularly showed up stoned. The only person I ever saw get fired for it was the idiot who knowingly smoked up while deer hunting with his brother the weekend before he had to renew his Class B driver’s license (and get tested in the process). Was pretty much a ‘fuck this job’ moment on his end. In short, only real assholes who are looking to get rid of people will suddenly decide they need to drug test their workforces because it was legalized. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/28 "2014-01-16T19:40:58Z")
This is anecdotal, of course, but I have heard from acquaintances that some of the people that they know are seriously considering moving here because of the legality (which may be acting as a tipping point, considering the number of craft breweries and ski slopes that were pre-existing factors). Two different shops have plans to open up later this year on the 16th Street Mall, which is a pedestrian mall four or five blocks away from the Colorado Convention Center. My guess is that they will be very, very successful. But really, 16 days after legalization looks a lot like 16 days before legalization. I agree with other posters that some employees may find out the hard way that statewide legalization doesn’t extend to their particular place of employment. Small sample size and all that, but it’s really no big deal so far. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869/29 "2014-01-16T19:43:26Z")
> [@EnginNerd](#): > > I swear if I see another news story titled “Rocky Mountain High” I can’t be held responsible for my reaction… [I Guess He’d Rather Be In Colorado.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBGksGTb90c) You’re welcome. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-marijuana-and-you/678869.md?page=1)