How Police are enforcing Colorado's new state law - Research Paper Example

How Police Are Enforcing Colorado’s New Law How Police Are Enforcing Colorado’s New Law Two policies relate to the use of marijuana in the US state of Colorado, that is, policies for its medicinal or recreational use. The recreational use of marijuana owes its origin to the enactment of Colorado Amendment 64 that gives precise criteria on a state wise drug policy for marijuana. The policy allows adults aged 21 and above to grow up to a maximum of six marijuana plants in a space locked privately (Benmaamar, 2014). As long as the owners let the plants to stay where they are grown, they are the ultimate owners of the plants. The policy further allows that the owners can give up to one ounce of marijuana to the other citizens of age 21 and above as a gift, besides possessing up to one ounce of the drug while travelling. In Colorado, the use of marijuana, according to Colorado Amendment 64, has equivalent permissions to those of alcohol use. This implies that the policies that control the use of alcohol in the public and in drunk driving prevention apply to the marijuana consumption. However, the consumption of marijuana in the public remains illegal. Amazingly, the Amendment 64 also allows for the licensing of marijuana’s production facilities and its retail stores ( Martin & Rashidian, 2014). The medical use of marijuana is legal in Colorado, but only for approved patients with written medical consent. However, federal laws prohibit the use of the drug in medicinal purposes terming the act as unlawful. According to Colorado Amendment 20 on drug use, a doctor may recommend for a patient the rights to own additional medicine such as marijuana, depending on the patient’s specific medical needs, and/or cultivate additional plants (Konrad & Reid, 2013, pp. 58). However, the policy prohibits medical use of marijuana in the public or in any place that may endanger the lives of others. The patients should get medical marijuana only from a recognized institution like a dispensary, which is usually a non-state-affiliated organization. Despite tese exemptions for medical and recreational use of marijuana (cannabis) in the Colorado state, its use, possession and/or sale remains illegal under the federal laws of the Unites States. Certain states have raised concern to reschedule marijuana under the federal law prohibition Act, all of which have become futile. Several cases presented before the United States Supreme Court on cannabis use, such as the United States Vs Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative, ruled in favour of the federal government, giving it the right to criminalize and regulate the use of marijuana. The federal government considers marijuana a dangerous drug with no medical benefits, focusing on those states like Colorado and Washington that have implemented its medicinal use (Benmaamar, 2014, pp. E60) . According to the current US Office of National Drug Control Policy, the illegalization of the use of marijuana is because its use would increase the use and availability of other illicit drugs that has a significant effect on the safety, as well as, the health of the US citizens ( Hurley 2013). In a further step to combating marijuana use, the federal government has issued policies for the banks that carry out transactions with legal marijuana sellers to ensure that such transactions follow taxation procedure . Thus, the federal government staunchly opposes marijuana use in the whole of the United States. Dealing with the new marijuana law: the police Martin and Rashidian (2014) affirm that the decriminalization of marijuana use in Colorado comes with a serious need to control the citizens in its public use, as well as to ensure high security in the state. The police department and other local law enforcement officers such as the police chiefs, prosecutors, and sheriffs, all have a serious role of ensuring that the citizens do not violate any state laws, more specifically averting cases of road accidents due driving under the influence of marijuana. Thus, the Colorado law enforcement officers have to set up ways in which to maintain security in the state despite this marijuana law passed on the 1st of Jan 2014. Some of the procedures the enforcement officers apply include 1. Training of state patrol troopers on spotting drivers under the influence of marijuana- for the first month since the enactment of the new marijuana law, the Colorado state patrol troopers cited about 60 people for driving offenses under the influence of marijuana. This presents another challenge for the officials as they have to device a method on how to identify and differentiate those drivers who are high on marijuana from those who are impaired by alcohol. Thus, the troopers must take an intensive course on how to recognize and prosecute these drivers (Benmaamar, 2014, pp. E62) 2. Hiking of security around the proliferating marijuana shops-, the police officers have determined that the legalization of the marijuana has significantly led to the increase of crimes like robbery of cash proceeds and inventory, especially in areas where the legal marijuana shops are highly concentrated. Since, the possession, transportation, and sale of marijuana are still illegal under the federal laws, the shops have to prepare and sell their products on the site. The federal law also makes the marijuana business a cash-only transaction. most federally-regulated bank do not involve themselves with the marijuana shops as this would lead to charges of conspiracy under the Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, that may led to the seizure of the banks entire assets (the Washington Times, 2014). These factors exposes the marijuana shops to cases of robbery, thus the police have to hike security in these areas. 3. ‘Weeding out’ of the people who take advantage of the new marijuana law- both the Pueblo Police department and the Colorado Springs police have been fed with enough information and training on what may come up and happen as far as dealing with the marijuana law is concerned. The police departments are in constant patrol of areas that have previously encountered pot-related problems. They are now using scales to determine the marijuana level in its users to be able to prevent any ugly scenes due to pot influence (Kondrad & Reid, 2013). Besides focusing on the prevention of traffic violations, the law enforcement officers are also concerned with ensuring that the drugs do not end up in the wrong hands. The police also struggle to control the smuggling of the drugs to neighbouring states, and more specifically because of the fact that these states have not legalized the use of marijuana. 4. Setting up of security control measures at the state borders and airports- as the marijuana sale and business is legal in the Colorado State, a high influx of tourists will be coming to the state monthly. These people may come to enjoy the pleasure of freely using the drug or indulging in business operations relating to marijuana. The police have a task of ensuring that no visitor leaves the state with the drug, as the drug is not legal internationally. The police departments in relation to this task have provided more facilities and the airports such as Denver International Airport employ a huge number of security personnel to ensure no passenger leaves with the drug out of the state. Effects of Colorado’s legalization of marijuana use on the law enforcement officers Although the police officers have set up all these measures in dealing with the new Colorado’s marijuana law, they as well feel the effects of the legalization of the drug. Some of these effects are 1. The legalization of the marijuana makes police departments in Colorado very poor- when the use of marijuana was still illegal in Colorado, the police departments were able to cash in good amounts through civil asset forfeiture. This involved raiding of grow operations and marijuana dealers and the consequent seizure of cash and varied properties. This was a source of financial incentive for dealing with drug-related crimes as well as payment benefits for the police department. Legalizing the marijuana business means fewer raids and less money for the police department. 2. A huge amount of money goes to law enforcement that leads to a reduction in the remuneration rewards for the police officers- due to the legalization of marijuana, the number of criminal activities have been steadily increasing in the Colorado state. These crimes and violence portray themselves when the users of the drug are high and indulge in unethical activities like robbery. This leads to a need to increase more personnel in the police force, purchase more patrol vehicles and machinery for the police department. As a result, the police departments in Colorado end up using a lot of money for the law enforcement operations, which significantly affects the financial stability and the pay-perk for police department. 3. Uncertainties in the law enforcement department of the state - the federal laws have banned the use, possession, and sale of marijuana. On the contrary, the Colorado state has just legalized the use, possession, and sale of marijuana. In their oath to office, police officers normally swear to uphold both the local, state, and federal laws. This leads to uncertainty and confusion as to whether the Colorado police officers should uphold the federal laws that ban the use f marijuana or just follow the Colorado state laws allowing its use. This continually leads to some security agencies opting to assume the prosecution of marijuana users and focusing their energy on ‘more serious’ crimes. 4. Recruitment and hiring of new officers- security agencies in any state such as Colorado occasionally hire or recruit new officers. In many previous situations, a good number of security agencies followed recruitment policies that prohibited the hiring or recruitment of officers who have used marijuana in the past three years. The recent Colorado state legalization of marijuana use thus, makes it a challenge in using these recruitment policies, whether they should be changed or left to concur with the federal laws that equally support the same argument (Martin & Rashidian, 2014). The enforcement of federal laws regarding the use, possession and sale of marijuana in Colorado remains a challenge as far as Colorado’s state laws are concerned. The state of Colorado had legalized the use of marijuana long before this policy became law. The police officers, in their solemn capacity to serve the United States and adhere to their oath of adherence to their respective state laws, find it difficult to implement and regulate the Colorado’s marijuana law (the Washington Times, 2014). The federal policy on drug use and control applies to all the states in the United States and in following these laws, the law enforcement officers would be openly assuming their state laws and the reverse is true. This controversy has led to situations in which law enforcement agencies avoid indulgence in criminal offences that link directly to the use of marijuana. They have rather involved themselves in tackling of other crimes like robbery and violence that they can easily prosecute depending on the federal or state regulations. According to the Washington Times (2014 ) , the US Department of Justice was not planning of challenging in any way, the process of the legalization of marijuana in both the states of Colorado and Washington( Washington also recently legalized use and sale of marijuana). However, the federal law enforcement agency like the DEA, felt the urge to disrupt the legalization process according to the federal laws of the US before the actual legalizations of the marijuana retail stores. This was the largest federal raid in the Colorado marijuana businesses since the legalization of medical marijuana. The local police officers assisted the federal law enforcement agents, where they executed seizure and warrants at a number of marijuana dispensaries and cultivation sites in the Denver region of Colorado. Benmaamar (2014) amusingly confirms that the operation, with all the highly trained personnel and the help form local police officers, only managed to seizure about 3% of all the medical marijuana businesses in the Denver region of Colorado. It thus became uneconomical to run such a high-capital demanding operation and produce a small impact on the marijuana business, of which there is an assurance of quick recovery of the affected businesses. Conclusion Thus the police officers, as well as other law enforcement agencies, find themselves in a situation to adhere to the state laws on marijuana use, with the only exemption in cases that require prosecution from the United States Supreme Court. The new Colorado marijuana legalization law is there to be, and as much as it exists, it remains the sole duty of the police officers and other law enforcement agencies to collect appropriate data on its danger within this first year of its operation. This information will be useful in handling of cases like driving while high on marijuana. References Benmaamar, R. (2014). Colorado: a first in the USA for legal sale of marijuana. The Lancet Oncology, 15(2), e55-e63. Hurley, W., & Mazor, S. (2013). Anticipated Medical Effects on Children From Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado and Washington State. JAMA Pediatrics, 167(7), 602-610. Kondrad, E., & Reid, A. (2013). Colorado Family Physicians Attitudes toward Medical Marijuana. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 26(1), 52-60. Marijuana Legalizations Worst Enemy; Colorado Will Demonstrate Why Promoting Pot Is a Mistake. (2014, January 20). The Washington Times, pp. 17-19. Martin, A., & Rashidian, N. (2014). A new leaf the end of cannabis prohibition. New York: New Press. Read More