Legal marijuana has not yet killed street pot dealing, will that ever happen?

By Doug Olenick

(Photo : Jeffrey Beal)  The institution of the legal pot business in Colorado has not led to the instant elimination of street drug crime, as some thought might happen. High prices for the legal stuff have kept dealers plying their tradetrade, but  as more legal pot stores open this could change. 

One of the reasons cited for legalizing some or all of the drug tradetrade has been the idea that it would quickly put a stop to the criminal activity that now surrounds that culture. However, if Colorado is any example, the opposite may be true.

Colorado legalized marijuana sales on Jan. 1, but recent criminal activity in that state seems to indicate that street dealers are still working their corners and a black market for the drug is still thriving.

"It has done nothing more than enhance the opportunity for the black market," said Lt. Mark Comte of the Colorado Springs police vice and narcotics unit. "If you can get it tax-free on the corner, you're going to get it on the corner."
Those backing legal pot sales say the crimes being committed, which include the shooting death of a weed dealer, are simply the residual effect from having a ban on marijuana in place for more than 80 years.

"It's just a transition period," activist Brian Vicente said. "Marijuana was illegal for the last 80 years in our state, and there are some remnants of that still around. Certainly, much like alcohol, over time these underground dealers will fade away."

For the first month that pot was legal to purchase, Colorado made $2 million in taxes. The state taxes pot at 12.9 percent, there is a 15 percent excise tax, and on top of that local municipalities can tack on their own levy.

While state officials said most people would rather buy pot in a safe, well-regulated environment, many will still go to the local corner dealer to save moneymoney. An ounce of pot can go for $400 or more at a state-regulated store, while the going rate from a dealer was tagged at around $200 to $300.

Also giving the criminals are way to stay in business is the fact that there are only 160 legal locations to buy marijuana in Colorado and most of these are centered in Denver and other urban areas. This leaves huge portions of the state where dealers are still the only source to buy pot.

This leads some to believe that as more stores open, street-level crime associated with the drug tradetrade will fall.

In the long run, this may or may not reduce crime in the state. At the end of Prohibition, Al Capone and bootleggers of his ilk may have found themselves out of the liquor business, but it did not take organized crime long to quickly fill that void with other activities.

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