Wyoming Prepares for Spillover from Colorado Marijuana Legalization on 1/1/2014

[andy3175]

http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2014/01/01/news/doc52c36e30c42da515340681.txt

Colorado legalized retail marijuana sales this morning, and Wyoming law enforcement officers expect spillover effects.

Albany County Sheriff Dave O'Malley said his office anticipates more stoned drivers and people carrying pot on highways leading from Colorado.

"We saw an impact just after the medical-marijuana legalization in Colorado in the number of stoned drivers on (Wyoming) Highway 287,"  O'Malley said. "We had more people in possession as well as people using while they're driving. So we've had an upswing in that regard."

Following that logic, he expects his deputies will begin logging more marijuana-related offenses in 2014.

"We have two deputies that have certified narcotics-detection dogs, and we fully anticipate that they'll be busy,"  he said. "I would be naïve to believe that folks aren't going to travel from Wyoming to Colorado to purchase marijuana legally and then transport it back to Wyoming."

Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Townsend agreed that officers would likely encounter more marijuana on Hwy. 287 and Interstate 80.

"We've seen an increase in it when it was medicinal,"  he said. "And even though they may have a medicinal certificate from Colorado, they still cannot have it in Wyoming. But we saw a slight increase when that happened, so I'm sure we'll see it again."

O'Malley and Townsend both said it's difficult to estimate the effect of Colorado legalizing pot on southern Wyoming.

Consequently, Highway Patrol and Albany County Sheriff's Office have not made special enforcement plans.

Regards,
Andy

[bugo]

Legalize it nationwide.  Problem solved.

[corco]

Of course- if I were still going to school in Laramie, there is no doubt in my mind my weekend trek in FoCo would include getting some weed and hauling it back up 287. UW is right over the border, has a good number of stoner Colorado kids...these things are going to happen.

I'm really interested in how Moscow, Idaho (University of Idaho) is going to fare once it's legal in bordering Pullman, WA.

[Indyroads]

Of course- if I were still going to school in Laramie, there is no doubt in my mind my weekend trek in FoCo would include getting some weed and hauling it back up 287. UW is right over the border, has a good number of stoner Colorado kids...these things are going to happen.

I'm really interested in how Moscow, Idaho (University of Idaho) is going to fare once it's legal in bordering Pullman, WA.

Legalization is a travesty. while i can understand the economics of the war on drugs and the futility and ineptitude of such efforts I do not believe that wholesale legalization and decriminalization of marijuana is the way to go. Marijuana is not a 'safe' drug and it is an intoxicant, and therefore it should remain as a contrilled and banned substance. I understand that there are those that want it legalized, but for the good of soceity as a whole it is not legal. By and large marijuana use is also associated with use of other banned substances, abusive behavior, criminal activity, theft, larceny, murder, and other anti-social behavior. Not to mention that is it sinful to use marijuana. I have yet to have seen any proof that there is any real value to legalization of marijuana by anyone, other than from a merely economic standpoint.

Firstly the war on drugs will continue because despite legalization efforts smugglers will still have a way to sneak it in because there will be a black market for marijuana (look at cigarettes and the tax scofflaws). besides there are many other drugs that will continue to be smuggled. we certainly cannot legalize crack or coke, or speed or heroin. Like i said it is inappropriate to even consider legalizing a drug that is still very much a dangerous drug.

[corco]

By and large marijuana use is also associated with use of other banned substances, abusive behavior, criminal activity, theft, larceny, murder, and other anti-social behavior.

The idea is that marijuana is safer to use than alcohol and less harmful for your health than cigarettes, and pretty much all objective evidence points to that being true.

A lot of the rest stems from its illegality- when marijuana distribution has to take place in the shadows, the controllers of the supply are not going to be your most upstanding citizens- they're organized criminals, which is what promotes criminal activity, theft, larceny, and murder. The theory is that if you bring it out of the shadows, so you're buying marijuana from a reputable source, then it can be treated like alcohol or cigarettes. You're not buying from criminals anymore- you're buying from law abiding citizens.

Harder drugs will still be out there, but now they're on the black market. If I go into the marijuana store to buy pot, I'm not going to be offered coke or shrooms at the register, so the chances that I'll be presented with the opportunity to buy those harder, more dangerous drugs diminish a lot. There will be fewer casual dealers with hookups to those drugs floating around, since your casual street pot dealer with the ability to order harder stuff is probably going to go out of business.

Probably like with cigarettes and alcohol you'll see those foreign importers of marijuana go out of business- the legal issues will be with people on American soil growing weed in their gardens, but like with illegal tobacco and moonshine, that's just a taxation issue and not a security issue.

I just...if you're a teetotaler and you think we need prohibition back, that's fine. I get that view though I disagree with it. I struggle to understand the view that it's okay to make tobacco and alcohol legal but not marijuana.

[NE2]

Why would a narcotics-detection dog be able to detect weed?

Not to mention that is it sinful to masturbate.

[hotdogPi]

What about everyone that decides to start just because it was legalized (and they have been waiting for today)?

[corco]

That's ...probably a pretty small chunk of people. If marijuana were legalized in my community, I would probably smoke it more often, sure, but I'd probably also drink a lot less often. I suspect I'm not in a unique position there. It's really not that hard to find marijuana in most places though- most people who want to smoke already smoke, but now they'll be buying from tax-paying, law-abiding citizens instead of organized criminals who possibly have ties to other dangerous activities.

And yeah, there is a novelty factor, but that'll wear off. Marijuana isn't addictive like cigarettes are- you can smoke and not get "hooked." Like with any major policy shift, you can't really assess its success or failure a couple weeks after it happens, because there's always going to be an adjustment period. It'll probably take five to ten years before we really know what changes have occurred.

[andy3175]

Hey everyone I only posted the original article to discuss law enforcement's take on motorists driving while "intoxicated" from marijuana, not to have a social debate about the pros and cons of marijuana. Please save your opinions about that aspect of marijuana for a thread in Off-Topic.

And oh yeah, be nice and respect each other's opinions.

Thanks,
Andy

[bugo]

If the government legalized meth, crack, and heroin, do you think everybody would start using those drugs?  The only effect it would have is that drugs like heroin would be pure and the user would be able to know exactly how much heroin was in a dose.  FWIW I've never even touched heroin.

[Alps]

Hey everyone I only posted the original article to discuss law enforcement's take on motorists driving while "intoxicated" from marijuana, not to have a social debate about the pros and cons of marijuana. Please save your opinions about that aspect of marijuana for a thread in Off-Topic.

And oh yeah, be nice and respect each other's opinions.

Thanks,
Andy

Yeah, you should have known better