Crime has also increased in Denver and Colorado as a whole in the post-legalization years.
"Since 2014, there has been a notable increase in organized networks of sophisticated residential grows in Colorado that are orchestrated and operated by drug trafficking organizations. These organizations currently operate hundreds of large-scale home grows throughout Colorado. Harvested marijuana is shipped or transported out of Colorado to markets in the Midwest and East Coast. Home grows have significantly increased illicit production of marijuana in Colorado," the report states.
And while marijuana has often been touted as an economy booster, the report shows that Colorado may be losing business from conventions that are no longer hosted in the state due to concerns about marijuana.
According to the report, 49 percent of meeting planners expressed concerns about marijuana when considering holding an event in Denver. VISIT DENVER, the marketing organization for the city, found that Denver's reputation as a clean and safe city where organizations can host events and conventions has decreased since the legalization of marijuana.
"The legalization initiative was never based upon a rational assessment of whether legalization would be good for our communities, it was driven by money and rotten politics," Dr. Brugger said.
"And mark my word, those numbers will go up, not down, in the next years." What's the solution? "Re-criminalization of the possession and smoking of marijuana in Colorado," he says.
Tom Gorman, Director of Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which released the report, also believes that the negative impact will only increase overtime.
"Any time you legalize a substance, you're going to have more people using. The more people you have using, the more adverse (effects) you're going to have on society, as well as the individual," he told CNA.
"Alcohol is a perfect example of that, because so many people use and abuse alcohol. We almost have as many people addicted to alcohol as all the illegal drugs combined. We can expect the same thing from marijuana, although with alcohol you don't necessarily drink and get drunk. With marijuana, you smoke to get (high)."
The report is also a good reference point for other states considering legalization of marijuana. Until now, there hasn't been enough data available.
"Basically what it does is give you a look at actual data versus rhetoric."
(Story continues below)
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"If you look at it overall and you look at the trends, which are all negative, whether it's emergency room visits or hospitalization or fatalities or drug use among our kids, the other states now have some data to make an informed decision."
This article was originally published Sept. 9, 2016.
Mary Farrow worked as a staff writer for Catholic News Agency until 2020. She has a degree in journalism and English education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.