adults can get a regulated supply, their youth rates are less. portugal as well. when they decriminalized drugs, the usage rates for children went down. that is in itself a good thing. let's look at what else went down. youth use of other drugs went down. youth availability of other drugs went down a lot. addiction rates, overdose rates, you name it. they went down. we regulated. business is regulation. you want to talk about big marijuana? let's talk about big prohibition and what has not worked. to put are going to do some regulation in. we are actually going to decrease youth use. thank you. [applause]

>> >> we have a very nice woman in the back who has been waiting a stop sign. i am going to be quick here. our goal on this one is youth prevention, which we measure by healthy kids colorado. in the last 30 days, we have public safety which we are going hospitals,by accidents. people losing their jobs from alcohol, tobacco, marijuana substance abuse. those are the things we are going to measure. we don't have to call it anything. we just have to have statistics. >> let's give a round of supplies to a fantastic panel. [applause] great way to start the conference. thanks so much.

>> take a look at your agenda. we have a half-hour break and then we are moving into track sessions. tracks two through four are on the other side of the hall. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] on our facebook page, we are asking if you think marijuana should be legal in your state. rights, yes, it should be legal at the rare. -- jason says --

and pam writes -- now, our interview with gina carbone of smart colorado, a group working to keep the marijuana out of the hands of kids. this is 30 minutes. host: here is another perspective, gina carbone with the group, smart colorado. she is a founding member of that group. welcome to c-span. much.hank you very host: could you tell our audience about your group, how it was formed, what is your purpose, in particular in the

topic of her relational marijuana? smart colorado was formed after the passage of amendment 64 which legalized marijuana in colorado. main concern really is how the legalization of marijuana is going to affect our youth hearing colorado. we have -- here in colorado. we have an awful lot of people in the state who are just at to make money in this is this and make this industry as big as possible. but we feel that there has not been due consideration to what this is going to do to our communities and particularly our kids. so that is really our purpose. we have been working at the state level, the local level on legislation to tighten restrictions and to really try and prevent the unintended consequences that would adversely affect our youth. whatat an -- host: intended consequences, such as what? guest: primarily more youth use.

the concern is, even before legalization happen here, we had a robust medical marijuana industry. denver's youth use in particular is much higher than the rest of the country. for example, eighth-graders in denver, almost 20% in the last healthy kids survey that was done, almost 20% of our eighth-graders are using marijuana and that compares to the national average which is about 6.5%. so across all of the age spectrum's, denver's youth use where we have had a lot of commercialization with first medical marijuana and a recreational marijuana, we are going to see those numbers change, too. but we are concerned already that so many of denver kids are using marijuana. previousa carbone, our guests said that the new rules put in place, first and foremost, you have to be 21 to buy.

there are other restrictions and rules put into place. wouldn't that cover concerns you might have? guest: again, you have to look at the medical marijuana industry and how long that has been going. we have seen a big spike in youth use since 2009. infractions at school, expulsions, suspensions, that type of thing. when you look at these actual surveys and you look at the areas where there is a terminus amount of commercialization like enver, -- like denver. have 343 hot shops in denver alone. the state has chosen only to have 21 shops. the sheer fact that we have so many stores that are selling it, it is very accessible. and medical marijuana is available to 18-year-olds.

so that is really the avenue of how it is getting into the hands of our adolescence. we have recent stories since the legalization of fourth graders selling it on the playground. --have had a huge increase in fact, there really haven't -- several years ago, when you look that adolescents getting a hold of marijuana. now at children's hospital, it is a huge concern because kids are being admitted for accidental ingestion. it is mainly the edibles that they are finding. we are also seeing adults being admitted. about,ity hospital talks recently, dr. zane who is the head of the emergency room, there are 20 of adults who are checking themselves in because -- there are plenty of adults who are checking themselves and

because these drugs are very potent and very easy to access because we have so many stores in denver in particular. host: michael elliott talked about the governor, working along with others, are working on finalization of some roles regarding thc and other products found in animals. are you part of that -- in edibles. are you a part of the process? guest: yes. what we have in our stores are bite-size pieces. if you can imagine a small rhesus piece -- a small reece's piece. they don'ters come, know that they are supposed to cut that into 10 individual pieces. edibles don't start to work for an hour or sometimes two hours after you adjust it. so the real problem is that the stuff is far too potent in individual servings. we have had these tragic deaths

due to edibles. a student from the congo who was ate oneng came over he cookie and started hallucinated and jumped over a balcony. the only thing he had in his system was marijuana from the one cookie. there was a man who ate and edible and ended up shooting his wife. she was on 911 saying that he hallucinating because he ate and edible. so the state is turned to do something about it. how many more deaths do we have to have before things really change in colorado? because right now, there is really no restriction on -- go-ahead. host: what would you like to see? would you like lower content, better packaging, more disclosure? guest: the idea is that it is

going to be 10 milligrams for each individual serving. so shrinking down the amount of thc in an individual serving will help tremendously. smart colorado is also pushing that each individual serving could be packaged individually. i think people, especially if they have to open another package, they realize, oh, i am having a second serving of marijuana if they choose to do so. but right now, you can get a pack of gummy bears. you put 10 of them in their. if it is not a marijuana product, most people who see a small packet of 10 gummy bears assume you eat all 10 gummy bears. that's why we think extra cautions need to be taken, that each individual piece would be wrapped and that might help consumers, guide consumers, that they should not ingest too much. we really need to do everything we can.

people not the marijuana of my generation or older saw decades ago. this is very strong marijuana. everything from the actual buds that people are smoking to now we have all of these concentrates that can be put in the e-cigarettes. baking is very popular here -- vaping is very popular here. i think 40% of the medical marijuana market is in the edible market. it is far more potent. people need to be educated about this and primarily our youth. i will get back to our youth because that is our organization's primary concern. our youth use is very high. and now we are starting to see these studies saying how damaging marijuana is to a developing brain. that is really the concern. have 14, 15, 16-year-olds

using this because they think it is medicine, it will help them concentrate, it will help them with depression and anxiety, these are some of the reasons that high schoolers are telling us why they are using marijuana, but it is very confusing for our kids and we have not done an adequate job informing them of the facts and how this is a very harmful product for adolescents, for the developing brain. and people -- and kids really need to stay away from marijuana. that is our main message. host: gina carbone talking about recreational marijuana here to answer your questions. the phone lines are divided by region and you will see them on the screen. if you live in colorado and you want to give your perspective, here is a line for you.

the first call is from felicia. say from aanted to 15 years ago, well, my auntie was dying from cancer and marijuana was a demon drug. 15 years later, she is a strong survivor of cancer. marijuana is maybe for the use. -- people get sick off of candy. have overdosed on meth and pharmaceutical drugs in your country -- in your county? and i want to say people are so busy taxing marijuana. how about the war on drugs and

how it has devastated the african american community? host: gina carbone, do you take anything from that? guest: i guess i would just like to say, too, i would like to discriminate -- distinguish between criminalization, legalization and commercialization. commercialization is where we see the stars in the advertising and the tactics we have seen from big tobacco throughout the years that are really influencing our young people. and making marijuana seem extremely mainstream in our communities. for people that have cancer, certainly,y, if -- if their doctor is prescribing a certain strain of marijuana and it makes them feel better, you know, that is not my business. again, we are really concerned

with the commercialization of marijuana and how it is affecting our communities and our kids in colorado. that is really what we are seeing. host: carl from crownsville, maryland. caller: good morning. i keep hearing that there has never been a study, there has never been a study. president nixon authorized a two-year in-depth study to find out the detrimental effects of marijuana. when he found that there were no detrimental effects, he classified the study. i would suggest that these two people have deep-seated psychological problems prior to the ingestion of marijuana. actually, to your latter point, i don't know exactly about that study that nixon did. that is interesting. but the latter point, i am here in colorado and from everything that i understand it talking to the families and friends, these two individuals actually did not

have psychological problems prior to this. really, really, really tragic, tragic accidents. host: so is it in both cases they simply ate too much of the product? is what -- yes, what the investigation and the toxicology report is pointing out. i know for a fact that the 19-year-old did not have anything in his system aside from the marijuana. of marijuana is a lot of marijuana for someone that has never ingested it. guest: jeremy from catskill new york. good morning. caller: good morning. this is already in line with the last question. the federal government holds a on -- what is it, patent

663057, which is a cure cureuana and cbd as a for various diseases. and the second part to my , here in new york, we just had the medical marijuana bill passed. one of the things on the news was cuomo had actually suggested from confiscated marijuana arrests as a source for the medicine that they would provide for the patients, which is obviously in my opinion absurd confiscated,d take unregulated medicine and then hand that out to cancer patients. so if you have any comment about that. host: we will finish it there and let our guests respond. guest: yeah, i would agree.

really, for those few people that are really using medical marijuana for medical purposes, i mean, sure, it needs to be monitored more carefully. it needs to be administered like a regular pharmacy. we don't have that going on in colorado. there are a lot of abuses in colorado. are seeing a huge spike -- even though we have recreational marijuana here in largedo, we are seeing a increase in people getting red cards which allows people to get medical marijuana, print to gillooly the 18 to 20-year-olds -- particularly the 18 to 20-year-olds. they are finding a way to get marijuana via our medical marijuana system. tose kinds of abuses do have stop because the cancer patients or hiv patients, the very few patients that are actually using it for truly medicinal purposes and not just to get high like

the vast majority of people in colorado that have red cards, that is what the recent audits said. many, many people are using it for general pain. we do have a recreational market that is taxing it and those people should go to the recreational market if they just want to get high. gina carbone, there is a story in the paper today about a recent sweep by denver place of shops to make sure they are not selling to those under 21. the story suggested that it seemed to be ok or everything seems to be on the up and up. does that come for you at any level? guest: again, our young people are not going to walk into a store and try to get medical marijuana. a lot of these places now have security guards standing right there. as i said before, many high schoolers have the right cards and that is how it is getting into the hands of teenagers. neighbors, siblings, whatever, it is extremely easy to get a medical marijuana license in colorado.

46%, well over a 40% in the last year alone, of 18 to 20-year-olds who are now getting medical marijuana cards. so that is how our youth, our teenagers are getting it. date is from other siblings. sometimes it is the parents marijuana. not storing it properly. a lot of these are -- a lot of these items have to be refrigerated. we really need to educate kids about the harms of marijuana for young people with a developing brain. that development goes into your mid-20's. 18, 19, 20-year-olds need to understand the harm that can come, the cognitive deficits that can come from using marijuana as an adolescent. adolescents are more prone to becoming addicted. are theone in six

numbers we have seen versus one in nine for addiction for an adult. so i get back to kids and parents need to be aware that this is a very unsafe product for young people. host: we had a chance to go through the medicine man dispense rate while we were in colorado a few weeks ago. we had a chance to talk about, for those leaving the store with candies and other types of products, the kinds of levels of regulation that deal with the products and the packaging and how they leave the stores. i want you to listen to a little bit of the interview and respond to it. >> this packaging is a completely white pill bottle, tamper-resistant on the top. you cannot see the candy like product that is in their. it might be sweet and tasty but it contains a point as well. you definitely don't want anybody under the age getting a hold of this. >> so this is a childproof cap

so to speak. thehis company has taken extra measure to put a chucker of cap, but the regulation is to absolutely make sure you cannot see through that bottle. they would not know it's candy by looking at. inwhat about candies packages? >> this is a pageant you cannot see through. instead of a plastic see-through, they are making is no telling a child looking at that candy that it would think it was candy. .nce you have a pill bottle >> when people walk out of here, they walk out with these white envelopes. what is this? >> it is required now by state packets child safety law, it needs to be in a

resealable, tamper-resistant container. >> you can hold up for folks to show. >> the zipper sits on that tab. when it is closed, it is not moving at all. host: you probably did not have the benefit of seeing it, but he did say that there are child and when they leave the stores, the white bags have some type of locking mechanism. guest: i am very familiar with that. host: can you respond to it? guest: i am actually familiar with what he is talking about because that is part of the regulations that smart colorado was involved in last year in the legislative process, trying to ensure that it was invisible. that particular company that we you -- that you are talking about might have childproof packaging on their product. not all of them do. there is something called exit packaging, childproof averaging that, if someone buys six different items at the store, it

will go into -- it is similar to a ziploc bag. but it is more difficult to get into. after i think two or three openings, then it he comes -- then it just becomes a ziploc bag. but it is supposed to be more secure than other packaging. that is a great start. we pushed for that. we wanted that. we will -- we think the labeling is very important. booke also confirmed -- what we are all stashed what we are also concerned about is we do not have a public education campaign. there are banner ads and social media telling youth not to use this product and that it is damaging to developing brains. and, i might add, washington state has not quite opened their stores yet and they already have that campaign

going. we have 340 stores your. we just haven't gotten a rolling it. guest: we will take a call from sam in iowa. i am glad they are protecting juveniles from this. my problem is the 18 to 21-year-olds. they can hold a gun and fight for our country at 18 years old. but they are not allowed to smoke a plant because they are still considered children. we have had the edible marijuana in california for years. crazy't have any of those things you're talking about where people kill themselves over it. host:. i will let our guest respond. guest: -- host: the age of 18, basically,

an 18-year-old still has a developing brain. with that agent that person shouldn't be using it because they are entitled to fight or they can carry a gun or anything. an 18-year-old is still developing. their brain is not fully developed. that is just the way it goes until their mid-20's. that is the reason we are saying that, even 18-year-olds need to be cautious about. they, too, can suffer from cognitive abilities, cognitive deficits, should say if they are early and persistent users. caller: good morning to both of you. i have a couple of points. forgive me if i misquote you. you mentioned something in the that thiswhere, now

has taken effect in colorado, we have people that just want to make a buck. and i have to say that is a bit prejudiced-sounding to me. when anything new in america everybody wants to get on the wave and make a buck, especially if it is legal. guest: sure. like toalso, i would say that i really appreciate what you are doing for the children as well. guest: thank you. i appreciate that. i just think we do need to look beyond money. we really need to look at how this is going to affect our communities, our public health policies, our safety going forward. drugs and driving has gone up in colorado. unfortunately, we have seen that. we have seen marijuana being diverted outside of colorado.

we so have a lot of issues to work on. the industry likes to say we are getting rid of the black market yet colorado has become the black market at least for the rest of the country. a gentleman called from new york earlier. i was just recently in new york and i know that colorado pot is going to new york. it is going to florida. it is going all over the place. it is very potent and people want the high thc. so colorado has become the black market. but thank you for the compliment about what we are doing for the kids. caller: jodi talks about thc. would you say that thc levels, if they remain high, would education be enough to cover it rather than lowering thc levels? >> there are even people in the industry that have talked about proofing marijuana come if you will, similar to alcohol, so

that people know how strong this is. just -- because marijuana has become so much stronger over the years, there ,s an education for, again people my age and older to realize that this is a very strong product. there are concentrates -- this is what a budtender told me today. you can take one hit and you are high all day long. that is not how it was several decades ago. but when kids are using these vaper pens in the classroom and having these edibles that are like regular food items -- any food item can become a medical product in colorado now. it is hard for schools and hard for parents to identify this. that is something that colorado is looking into, to make sure that the marijuana product is

identifiable and looks different. unfortunately, those rules probably will not go into effect until 2016. the vaping is very popular in high school and with kids cook, too. very, very is strong. host: we have been showing some of these edible products. --y have a can of our look they have a candy bar look. do the rules with amendment 64 talk about the style of packaging involved with the edible product? guest: the packaging itself has to be opaque. you are not supposed to be able to see through it. the item itself though, like i said, anything pretty much under sun right now can become a marijuana product.

so it is beyond the brownies in the cookies and the candy and soda. get pizzao, you can and ice cream, salad dressing, pasta sauce. the list goes on. there really is no limitation in that regard and that is troubling because it is just becoming so prevalent. a lot of people that supported amendment 64, we hear from people all the time that said i had no idea it was going to be like this. it has become so commercial here in colorado. part of our denver post newspaper has its own section dedicated to marijuana. our colorado symphony is hosting talk concerts -- pot concerts. we have the denver fair. events,have marijuana plantn grow the best pot

and joint-rolling contest and things like that. it is becoming such a way of life here in colorado and frankly people that even voted for amendment 64, the legalization, had no idea that it would look like this and it would become so commercialized. a lot of people felt like it was just for small amounts of marijuana for adults in the privacy of their own home. yet we have open and public use all over denver. whether it is in our parks -- they are try to get a handle on it but it is very difficult. host: plainview, texas. this is james. caller: first and foremost, i believe that it is the parents responsibility to be able to monitor their children. i am a psychiatric patient. marijuana, use of

they would cause me to go out -- homicidal and it's a frantic. host: james, appreciate the call. gina carbone. guest: first, i wish you good luck and i hope that you are in the care of a good doctor. regarding the responsibility of the parents, sure, parents have to educate their children and look after what they are doing. but one we live in a society where the marijuana industry is hosting events and we see people openly smoke in the parks and having these huge for 20 events, food trucks that are driving with foodh marijuana like they did that weekend, there comes a point where, if we are going to be selling this and

it is going to be available in our community, it also is the responsibility of elected officials to ensure that it is implemented the way it was sold to voters, which is it won't be used in public. it is for private consumption. it is to be used only by adults. it is not to leave the state. coloradoose issues really needs to still work on. we are having issues with all of those points. host: ultimately, as far as the rules are today, what more would you want to see? guest: there is still clearly the regulations on the edibles. i thinktypes of edibles is an issue that we need to look at. really, should we allow every and any kind of food to become an edible? we don't have the fda looking after these food products.