CO's Ecological Consequences

Colorado's Unforeseen Ecological Consequences
Colorado’s Unforeseen Ecological Consequences

Back in 2014, Colorado completely legalized the use, sale, and growing of marijuana, the latter both by individuals and by commercial/agricultural concerns. This was hailed as a landmark in “progress,” both by the ever-drug-loving Leftists and many Libertarian sorts. And, indeed, there seems to have been little, if any, human damage or negative consequences caused by Colorado’s drug experiment.

But What About The Ecological Consequences?

With marijuana now growing all around The Centennial State, it follows that mice, rats, voles, rabbits, and various varieties of squirrels will be eating the seeds and some of the vegetation. This would both end up concentrating the cannabinoids in those prey species’ tissues, and make them both more unaware and sluggish. Hence, those rodents and similar prey animals would be easier for various predators to catch and consume.

So yeah! Stoner owls – owls both primarily subsisting upon small, terrestrial prey and being a major predator thereof – look likely to be an unforeseen, probably negative, ecological consequence of Colorado’s legalization of the use and growing of marijuana.

So… Stoned owls. That’ll be “fun.” 😛

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Conflicting Smoke Signals

Recently, the US Attorney General, Jeff Session declared that he and his DoJ would reverse course on the doctrine set forth under Obama and Holder and restart enforcement of federal drug laws as they pertain to marijuana. This, frankly, leaves me feeling ambivalent since one could say that I’m getting conflicting smoke signals… and neither of them have anything directly to do with either medical or recreational use of cannabis.

To me this is an example of federal overreach resulting in the Constitution being in conflict with itself at this time. I find that the entirety of the federal drug laws, except those that cover importation, exportation, or interstate trafficking, to be violations of the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution. However, the Take Care Clause (Section 3, Clause 5) of Article II of the Constitution requires that the Executive shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. In other words, the Constitution requires the Executive branch to enforce the laws set forth by the Legislative branch unless and until the Judicial branch declares said laws to be null and void.

That conflict is what’s making me ambivalent about this whole thing, not my personal opinions of either medical or recreational use of marijuana.

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