Cannabist editor Ricardo Baca (Craig Walker, The Denver Post)

Cannabist’s Ricardo Baca on “This Week” to discuss national pot picture (video)

Recent comments by President Barack Obama, the much-hyped Denver Broncos-Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl matchup and medical marijuana going on Florida’s ballot are keeping pot on the national radar.

Cannabist editor Ricardo Baca, having recently wrapped up an interview on daytime talk show “The View,” visited New York on Sunday for a panel discussion of national pot policy and America’s “love affair with marijuana” on ABC’s “This Week,” hosted by George Stephanopoulos.

Joining Baca on the panel were Dr. Richard Besser, ABC chief health and medical editor; Pierre Thomas, ABC News senior justice correspondent; and Alison Holcomb of the ACLU’s Washington state branch.

The changing attitudes toward marijuana were voiced by Besser, a pediatrician and father of two teenage boys.

“It’s just not rational that adults don’t have the choice of using marijuana, but they do for alcohol,” said Besser, comparing the health dangers of alcohol with pot.

Marijuana potency and its physical effects on younger people, as well as education and prevention of underage use were among the topics.

Stephanopoulos also wondered if one could actually “smell the difference” in Denver and Boulder now that recreational marijuana use is legal in Colorado.


Resources — Colorado marijuana guide: 64 of your questions, answered