Colorado law enforcement weighs in on marijuana debate

It all depends on your perspective.

By Emily Clark 

PLYMOUTH – It all depends on your perspective.

While the Marijuana Policy Project churns out reports that Colorado raked in $109 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2015, many Colorado state officials and legislators say the cost of the industry through increased law enforcement, regulation and health care subtract mightily from that number. They say the new industry is having serious consequences on young people and the state’s coffers. Colorado’s scramble to create a regulatory system for the industry, increase emergency response and respond to the health issues have been costly, they say.

The plus and minus columns are still blurry, however, as Colorado examines the sweeping changes in its attitude to marijuana and what that has meant to the economy, law enforcement and health care, according to state legislators.

State Reps. Mathew Muratore, R-Plymouth, Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, Tom Calter, D-Kingston, Jim Cantwell, D-Marshfield, Tim Whelan, R-Brewster, and Hannah Kane, R-Shrewsbury, among others, wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth, so they invited law enforcement experts from Colorado to talk to House lawmakers Feb. 10 about the potential impact of legalizing recreational marijuana in Massachusetts. 

What they learned dovetailed with the findings of Sen. Vinny deMacedo and others who traveled to Colorado last month to learn what they could of the state’s legalization of the drug for recreational use.

Cutler said Sgt. Jim Gerhart, who is vice president of Colorado’s Narcotic Enforcement Officer’s Association, Detective Matt Gutwill, president of the New England Narcotic Enforcement Officer’s Association, and Police Chief John Carmichael of the New England Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association’s board of directors all shared their experience and knowledge at the luncheon.

Muratore said the guests confirmed that the change in Colorado has caused a spike in crime. The industry is still largely cash-only, he explained, as marijuana is still illegal at the federal level and a majority of banks won’t accept marijuana dealers as clients. As a result, there have been incidents of marijuana clinics and sales people being kidnapped and robbed, even tortured in some cases, by those anxious to get ahold of the cash they’re carrying. 

Meanwhile, the sale of marijuana-laced candy has caused an up-tick in emergency room visits, with an alarming number of children taking the drug. Pets have also died at the callous hands of owners and friends who feed their dog and cat marijuana candy to “see what happens,” Muratore added.

“We have an opiate crisis in this state right now,” Muratore added. “There are four people dying on a daily basis in Massachusetts, and I don’t know how many overdoses. Why would you want to complicate this situation by introducing marijuana for recreational use? The timing is just not good. We need to get a handle on this opiate crisis first. We’re nowhere near getting a handle on this yet. We’re going to lose a generation if this keeps up. To me, it just doesn’t make sense.”

         Gerhart told the group that he is visiting states like Massachusetts that are poised to adopt the new    measure to allow recreational use of marijuana in order to share what he has experienced first hand.

“He said he is doing this on his own,” Muratore added. “He was on vacation from the Denver Police Department and sharing the number of deaths related to this issue through psychotic episodes that result from too many gummy bears and the like. He put a dozen or so faces on the board explaining how each of them had died.”

Colorado law enforcement is also experiencing problems determining when a driver is under the influence of marijuana, Muratore added, because there is no breathalyzer test to confirm that and bolster visual evidence that the driver is impaired.

Another issue is the fact that Colorado law enforcement is having to deal with residents growing and illegally distributing the drug to states that don’t allow marijuana use. Colorado’s decision to allow recreational and medical use of the drug has led to a significant increase in the black market, Muratore added.

“In my view, here in Massachusetts we’ve decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana already and we allow medical marijuana use,” Cutler said. “I don’t see the urgency in legalizing it entirely now. We shouldn’t be hasty. We need to take our time and see what other states have done. We know there’s a connection between pot use and other drugs. Rushing into full legalization right now doesn’t seem a wise course of action.”