Unintended consequences explored in ‘Colorado: The State of High’

In December 2015, Marc Bullard felt on top of the world. The 23-year-old from Texas had recently landed a good job in Denver after graduating magna cum laude from Southern Methodist University. But just a few months later, in April 2016, Marc took his own life.

His diary describes an addiction to marijuana dabbing. He wrote, “I found out I was dabbing too much, which I already knew…. Apparently if you overdo it, you can get almost like poison and experience some negative effects.”

Dabbing is a way to smoke highly concentrated THC, the psycho-active drug in marijuana. The concentrates are known as wax, shatter and honey. Dabbing gives the rush of an instant high. And in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, there are no limits on THC concentration.

Did high-potency cannabis contribute to Marc’s suicide? Some advocates say his death is a glimpse into the risks of Colorado’s legalization of marijuana. The new Rocky Mountain PBS investigative program Insight with John Ferrugia will look more closely into his case and others where marijuana may have had a negative impact. We’ll hear from families, scientists, marijuana industry insiders and state regulators.

What we know – and don’t know – about THC almost three years after Colorado legalized recreational cannabis.