When cannabis legalization opponents discuss the “dangers” of ending marijuana prohibition, they almost always jump to the safety of local children. If we legalize weed, they say, our children will be getting edibles in their halloween candy bags and be shooting heroin by the age of 16. But while reefer madness still drives fear-mongering in states without legalization, if you ask parents and teachers in rural Colorado, they’ll sing a different tune – one about the brand new schools and population influx that the state’s legal weed taxes and employment rate have brought to town.
According to the Denver Post, that’s exactly what’s happening in Deer Trail, a rural suburb 60 miles outside of Denver. Thanks to money from Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today, or BEST, initiative, funded in part by the state’s cannabis excise tax, the town will open a brand new K-12 public school in the next two years.
Currently, the Deer Tick public school is sagging, leaking, and ill-equipped to prepare child for life in the 21st century. The school’s swimming pool was in such shambles that a structural engineer recommended the district cancel the sport for good,…