Despite legalized marijuana right on its borders, Uintah Basin law enforcement agencies report that they have not seen a rise in marijuana-related crimes since Colorado voted to legalize the drug in 2012.
“I can’t speak for other agencies, but for the sheriff’s office, there hasn’t been a substantial increase,” said Sgt. Brian Fletcher with the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office. “We haven’t necessarily increased specific patrols due to the legalization in Colorado.”
This does not match what other border states say they have experienced since legal marijuana became widely available in Colorado. In December 2014, Nebraska and Oklahoma filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court against the state of Colorado, citing a dramatic increase in marijuana crimes in border counties.
Law enforcement officers in border counties in Nebraska and Oklahoma stated that they had been forced to increase patrols and divert more resources to fighting marijuana crimes, which was costing taxpayers in those states a great deal of money. The lawsuit claimed that both states had experienced more marijuana entering their towns and being transported down their highways, which led to more arrests, more impounded vehicles and higher jail and court costs.
Colorado denied the allegations of the lawsuit, and many residents condemned Nebraska and Oklahoma for attempting to dictate laws within their state. The lawsuit officially came to an end on March 21, 2016, when the Supreme Court declined to hear the suit.
While other border states may have experienced an increase in crime, data shows that crime rates in the Uintah Basin have been largely unaffected. Court records from 8th District Court in Duchesne and Uintah Counties show no significant increase in marijuana-related charges from before and after marijuana was legalized in Colorado.
It is possible that there has been no significant increase because there are no dispensaries located on the border between Colorado and Uintah County. The nearest marijuana dispensaries are located several hours away, in De Beque, Silt, Parachute and Glenwood Springs. However, that could change in the near future.
In the November 2016 general election, voters in Dinosaur, Colorado, approved three measures allowing for the construction of retail and medical marijuana dispensaries in the town. Dinosaur is located only three miles east of the Utah-Colorado border, and would bring legal marijuana much closer to the Uintah Basin.
“We’re very aware of it but it’s not going to change the way we enforce laws,” said Fletcher after the election. “We’re not going to change the way we patrol or the reasons that we patrol.”
Law enforcement’s claim that legalized marijuana in Colorado is not impacting the Uintah Basin also matches what local marijuana users say about the drug. Basin resident Jane Smith* regularly smokes marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes. She says law enforcement is right, and legal marijuana from Colorado should not be a focus for officers.
“The smoke that’s here, it’s not coming from a dispensary,” said Smith. “Sure, some of it’s coming from Colorado, but it’s not the legal stuff. Buying from a dispensary is expensive. No one who’s dealing marijuana locally is getting it legally.”
Smith says that any Colorado marijuana available in the area is typically sold directly by a grower at a significantly discounted rate from what a dispensary charges.
“I know people who get their smoke from Colorado, but they get it straight from the grower, and it’s illegal for him to sell it that way,” Smith said.
“There are two big farms that I know of in the area, and the guys that have those farms are two of the biggest dealers in the area as well,” said Smith. “A lot of what you can get here is being grown right here.”
Smith says that worrying about legal marijuana from Colorado wouldn’t do anything to affect the local drug market.
“The cops are right. If they started spending all their time looking for people coming back from Colorado with pot, they’d just be wasting it. It wouldn’t change anything here,” Smith said. “There might be some people from here who go to Colorado just to smoke, but they’re not transporting it. They’re not dealing it. The stuff that’s here isn’t the legal stuff.”
Ultimately, officers say they’ll keep an eye on the situation going forward, but there are no plans to change the way marijuana crimes are treated in the Uintah Basin.
“The availability of legalized marijuana from Colorado is something we are obviously aware of, but regardless of what Colorado does, it’s still illegal to possess in Utah and we will continue to treat it that way,” Fletcher said.
credit:ubmedia.biz
