Here's The Crime-Ridden Hellscape That Is Colorado After Legal Weed

[Lady Freedom Returns]

By Daniel Wallis

DENVER, July 3 (Reuters) - At the Native Roots Apothecary, a discreet marijuana shop in a grand old building in Denver's busy 16th street shopping mall, business is so brisk that customers are given a number before taking a seat to wait their turn.

There are young men in ball caps, nervous-looking professionals in suits, and the frail and elderly. Staff say customers have been flocking to their outlets since Colorado voted to allow recreational pot use for adults from January.

Six months on, Colorado's marijuana shops are mushrooming, with support from local consumers, weed tourists and federal government taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Tax dollars are pouring in, crime is down in Denver, and few of the early concerns about social breakdown have materialized - at least so far.

"The sky hasn't fallen, but we're a long way from knowing the unintended consequences," said Andrew Freeman, director of marijuana coordination for Colorado. "This is a huge social and economic question."

Read more @ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/03/colorad-marijuana-crime-declines_n_5554453.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

[Cartoonist]

1. Crime is down

and so will drunk driving arrests fall.

[Politicalboi]

2. "The sky hasn't fallen, but we're a long way from knowing the unintended consequences,"

Yeah like more taxes to spend on it's citizens. What the fuck are these "unintended consequences"? The worst drug EVER is legal in all 50 states. Booze has unintended consequences every serving.

[AAO]

6. Have smoked every day for 42 years am in perfect health. It's a miracle drug!

[bemildred]

8. Cannabis was legal and in use for thousands of years and nobody much noticed.

If there were "unintended consequences" or any consequence whatsoever, they would have been known and evident.

[Personal Damon]

3. Oh my GAWD Oh my Gawd!

[yourout]

4. I heard there has been a huge run on Lays potato chips....

since it was legalized.

[Kennah]

5. I have to do it

[Uncle Joe]

7. Also the murder rate has dropped by more than half in Denver during the 1st quarter of this year.

http://mic.com/articles/92449/six-months-after-legalizing-marijuana-two-big-things-have-happened-in-colorado2.

Denver crime rates have suddenly fallen.

Marijuana-related arrests, which make up 50% of all drug-related crimes, have plummeted in Colorado, freeing up law enforcement to focus on other criminal activity. By removing marijuana penalties, the state saved somewhere between $12 million and $40 million in 2012, according to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.

According to government data, the Denver city- and county-wide murder rate has dropped 52.9% since recreational marijuana use was legalized in January. This is compared to the same period last year, a time frame encompassing Jan. 1 through April 30.

Thanks for the thread, Lady Freedom Returns.

[Grown2Hate]

10. "Crime is down."

I'm sure that no small part of the decrease in crime is due to the fact that marijuana, itself, is now "decriminalized". So much of the "crime" before probably consisted of having small amounts of marijuana on you. Stands to reason.

I think Denver is a good testing ground for the country. Let a year or so go by, show that the world didn't collapse, and let it sink in nationally that decriminalization of MJ is a GOOD thing (or at a bare minimum, a non-harmful policy).