5 months and down sides of colorado mj

[DrFever]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/u...html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=2

Law enforcement officers in Colorado and neighboring states, emergency room doctors and legalization opponents increasingly are highlighting a series of recent problems as cautionary lessons for other states flirting with loosening marijuana laws.

There is the Denver man who, hours after buying a package of marijuana-infused Karma Kandy from one of Colorado’s new recreational marijuana shops, began raving about the end of the world and then pulled a handgun from the family safe and killed his wife, the authorities say. Some hospital officials say they are treating growing numbers of children and adults sickened by potent doses of edible marijuana. Sheriffs in neighboring states complain about stoned drivers streaming out of Colorado and through their towns.

 

[BenfukD]

Flying High again

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Or are the authorities exaggerating things because LEO did not want cannabis legalized in the first place. I have a real hard time believing that a package of cannabis infused candy is going to make someone go stark raving mad and shoot his family. If so this is the first of that kind of thing anywhere....sounds a little fishy to me.

 

[JustAnotherAntMarching]

I agree with THG... Sounds like an excuse more then the reason....


Posted by CN Staff on May 14, 2014 at 08:54:18 PT
By Matt Ferner, The Huffington Post
Source: Huffington Post


Colorado -- Four months after recreational marijuana sales were legalized in Denver, crime still hasn't gone up, according to the city's latest data.
Overall violent crime in Denver for the four-month period that includes January to April fell 5.6 percent from the same period a year earlier. Crime is down in the four main categories of violent crime -- homicide, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crime dropped 11.4 percent from the first four months of 2013.

The crime data stands in stark contrast to statements made by law enforcers in 2012, before Amendment 64 legalized marijuana in Colorado for recreational sale and use. Multiple members of the state's law enforcement community warned legalization would bring bleak and "harmful" consequences. “Expect more crime, more kids using marijuana and pot for sale everywhere," Douglas County Sheriff David Weaver said in a 2012 statement . "I think our entire state will pay the price."

Naturally, correlation does not imply causation with this crime data. And with only four months of legal sales on the books and only about half of all the states' dispensaries licensed to sell, it may be too early to identify trends. But evidence of a crime wave simply has not materialized since legal pot sales began Jan. 1.

What has soared is revenue from legal marijuana sales. Marijuana shops brought in nearly $19 million collectively in March, up nearly one-third from about $14 million in February. Pot shops raked in $14 million during the first month of sales.

Nearly $13 million has been added to state coffers in tax and licensing fees from Colorado's recreational and medical marijuana markets -- $7.3 million of that from recreational marijuana.

Denver's crime statistics during the first four months of retail marijuana reflect findings from a recent report published in the peer-reviewed PLOS ONE journal showing that legalizing medical marijuana causes no increase in crime, and may reduce some violent crime, including homicide.

Currently, 21 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use. Colorado and Washington both legalized recreational marijuana, with Colorado's shops already selling and Washington's expected to begin later this year. About a dozen other states are considering legalizing marijuana in some form.

Source: Huffington Post (NY)
Author: Matt Ferner, The Huffington Post
Published: May 13, 2014
Copyright: 2014 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Zo50hSnc

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[kaotik]

had to delve deeper;

Kristine Kirk, 44, told a 911 operator that her husband also may have been on some prescription medication for back pain, according to a police affidavit.

oh but it was the marijuana eh?
sad news regardless. and you know this court case will draw big attention (much negative) as he goes for the insanity plea.

"stoned drivers screaming through".. and they know they were stoned how?
meanwhile;

It was only in January, for example, that the Colorado State Patrol began tracking the number of people pulled over for driving while stoned. Since then, marijuana-impaired drivers have made up about 1.5 percent of all citations for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

1.5% ..no worries about the other 98.5% from alcohol and other drugs.

Marijuana supporters note that violent crimes in Denver — where the bulk of Colorado’s pot retailers are — are down so far this year.
Over all, crime in Denver is down by about 10 percent, though it is impossible to say whether changes to marijuana laws played any role in that decline.

Sheriff Adam Hayward of Deuel County, Neb., said he was locking up more people for marijuana-related offenses. “It’s kind of a free-for-all,” he said. “The state or the federal government needs to step up and do something.”

i do agree completely here; they do need to do something... legalize it

Criminal marijuana cases in Colorado plunged by 65 percent in 2013, the first full year of legalization for personal recreational use

that's all from the same story. but of course they sensationalize and go with the most negative as the title.

 

[lyfespan]

That's bull pile propaganda, come on people be smarter than that. I drive while smoking all the time to deal with the crappy no pay attention drivers.

 

[Jimmy James]

"There is the Denver man who, hours after buying a package of marijuana-infused Karma Kandy from one of Colorado’s new recreational marijuana shops, began raving about the end of the world and then pulled a handgun from the family safe and killed his wife, the authorities say. "



Sounds like a new Reefer Madness movie !!!

 

[roots69]

Boy, that's why I don't read the lie paper or watch tel-a-lie-vision news!!!

 

[Flyinghigh]

This is a bunch of HOG WASH stuff that make Marijuana looks bad.. Be nice to try some edibles to see how the effect is.

Chocolate chip cookies r good even with high grade marijuana is in it, but to eat 36 dozen with a glass of milk is insane anyhow..

This guy must of been on some other type of DRUGS or been drinking alcohol that the reporter not saying but there was a commit that says this Kirk guy had back problems and by saying that he must of been taking pain pills but which pain pills.?

I take Noraco #10 4 to 5 times a day and I smoke all day and I eat edibles too and I am NOT going crazy..