When I first started telling people I was moving to Colorado, I was a little surprised by the initial reaction of most. When they thought of the state, they instantly commented on the fact that marijuana is legal here. As someone who doesn't smoke marijuana (never has) I really couldn't care less where I was moving somewhere it was legal or not. That had nothing to do with my decision to move to Colorado. Marijuana being legal doesn't bother me one bit though, but since I don't partake in it I don't really think too much about it either. It's not a part of my life.
After engaging in conversation with a few of these people who didn't live in Colorado about the legalization of marijuana and then looking back at some of their remarks, I can say that there are definitely misconceptions about living in a state where marijuana is legal. It seems as though people who don't live here see it was a huge deal and that everything is different. I guess is marijuana is a part of your life then perhaps it might change some things, but for just the average Joe who doesn't smoke and doesn't work in the marijuana industry, it's had little to no impact on my life.
1. "More people smoke marijuana in Colorado than in states where it's not legal."
While I haven't conducted any scientific research on this, I can tell you the majority of the people that I associate with either don't smoke or don't really talk about it too much if they do. It's not really a big deal either way and quite frankly, nobody really cares. I think a couple people said to me "Oh, don't go out there an turn into a pot head." Um, no I had no plans of that. If I wanted to smoke, I would have done so before now. The legalization of marijuana in a state doesn't just instantly make people change their thought process and do things they wouldn't typically do.
2. "Everybody is smoking, everywhere you go, all the time."
This is totally not true. Yes, while I have noticed the smell of marijuana filling the air a bit more frequently than when I didn't live in Colorado it's pretty rare to see someone just lighting up in a public place. I've really only seen that happen a handful of times and those are places where in states that it's not legal it would happen as well...concert venues, festivals, etc. It is still illegal to light up in a public place, so people still try to be on the "down low" about doing so.
3. "More people probably smoke than they do drink there."
Beer apparently is a huge thing in Colorado. I am not really much of a drinker either (especially beer, yuck) so again, I say this from more of an observer's viewpoint. If you do go out to bars, there are the typically drunken idiots that there would be at any bar in any place in the country. They don't disappear because marijuana has came into the picture, sadly.
4. "There are dispensaries on every corner."
While I would say running across a dispensary especially in Denver is probably more common than seeing a McDonald's, I wouldn't say they were on every corner by any means. And after you've passed a few and the novelty of seeing one or going into one has worn off, you don't pay any attention to them (if you're a non-smoker). However, I did see a billboard the other day advertising some weed tracker app where you can see where the closest dispensaries are and get reviews and stuff, which I thought was a little amusing.
5. "Since marijuana is legal, it's okay to be high on the job."
This is totally inaccurate. Employers still have the right to drug test and if you test positive for marijuana, they still have the right to fire you. I'm sure it's different for each employer but the fact that it is legal doesn't change that. If you want to get more technical about it, there are legal reasons why they can do this and it's pretty easy to find them online, but bottom line is, yes you can still be fired from your job for smoking.
