COLORADO MARIJUANA REGULATION FIVE YEARS LATER: HAVE WE LEARNED ANYTHING AT ALL?

This Article is based on the 2018 University Lecture of the same name that I presented at the University of Denver on April 24, 2018. January 1, 2019 marks five years of taxed and regulated adult-use marijuana in Colorado. In this Article, I address much of the misinformation and hyperbole that has been disseminated regarding this first-in-the-world regulatory experiment. I discuss both the successes and the challenges that Colorado has experienced and offer some cautiously optimistic predictions about the years ahead. As we move closer to the end of marijuana prohibition at the federal level, understanding what has worked-and what has not-in Colorado will be crucial to drafting sensible public policy in the years ahead.