I’m writing in response to Mr. McClure’s letter to the editor on July 31 regarding Colorado’s experience with legalized marijuana. It must have been a shock for him to return to Denver after almost 30 years and find that the place had changed. My husband and I moved from Denver to Waikoloa Village 20 years ago but have been visiting almost every year since to see family and friends.
I’m writing in response to Mr. McClure’s letter to the editor on July 31 regarding Colorado’s experience with legalized marijuana. It must have been a shock for him to return to Denver after almost 30 years and find that the place had changed. My husband and I moved from Denver to Waikoloa Village 20 years ago but have been visiting almost every year since to see family and friends.
Yes, Denver has changed over the years, but it happened long before the legalization of marijuana three years ago. The population of the Denver Metro area increased by 50 percent between 1980 and 2000. At the risk of stereotyping, traffic really started to get bad in the 1980s when the city received an influx of Californians who brought their driving habits of honking as soon as the light turns green and running red lights regularly with them. And more people means more cars and more traffic on the roads. But Denver, and the surrounding metro area, is known for its good quality of life — sunny, dry climate, off the road bike trails all over the metro area, good public and private schools, good jobs, lots of parks, campgrounds, skiing, hiking within a short distance — an outdoor lifestyle, but also good libraries, art museum, performing arts center (all supported with tax dollars for over 20 years), restaurants and shopping. Its new, growing light rail system should be the envy of every metro area in America. It’s a place that attracts businesses to locate there and it is a tech hub. Housing is booming there because the economy is good and growing and the low tax rate that results from marijuana income doesn’t hurt in attracting individuals and businesses, and subsidizing nonprofits. Other cities, such as Charlotte, North Carolina, where I visited this spring, and where marijuana is not legal, are also experiencing a shortage of affordable homes due to spiking prices from a good economy.
I did notice on my visit to Colorado in June a sad increase in young homeless men hanging around the downtown park areas. The homeless are more visible in Denver in the warmer weather, but none of them approached me for a handout.
Let’s not blame the legal sale of marijuana for all the worrisome things in this world. Hawaii is changing too, not always for the better. We love living on the Big Island, but let’s take a lesson from cities like Denver and work to improve the things that make life worth living — a good education that can lead to a good job, a clean ocean and parks to play in, basic affordable housing, a healthy lifestyle and available health care for when we do get sick, along with a helping hand when we need it.
Ruth Bernstone is a resident of Waikoloa