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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US: Law enforcement ready for Colorado cannabis impacts
Boomerang Tuesday 04 Dec 2012 After Colorado residents voted to legalize marijuana in November, local law enforcement agencies have been preparing to do the same, only more of it. “I anticipate we’ll probably see an increase, but we’ll handle those in the same manner as we have in the past through an arrest for possession of a controlled substance,” Albany County Sheriff Dave O’Malley said. “I don’t know that we’ll see a huge increase, but I anticipate that common sense dictates there will be an increase.” In Wyoming, possession of 3 oz. or less of marijuana can be punishable by up to one year in prison and $1,000 in fines. Those penalties haven’t changed in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped Colorado residents with medical marijuana licenses claiming otherwise, O’Malley said. “We actually saw an increase when they did the prescription authority down in Colorado,” he said. “Our deputies will stop somebody driving down (Highway) 287 or some other highway and find that they’re in possession of marijuana. Normally they go, ‘Hey dude, I’ve got a prescription,’ but it’s kind of like, ‘Hey dude, they don’t work in Wyoming.’” Roads leading into Laramie and other southeastern Wyoming communities from Colorado could see even more incidents of marijuana possession and people driving under the influence of cannabis now that it’s legal in Colorado, both O’Malley and Laramie Police Department Cmdr. Mitchell Cushman said. O’Malley said the Sheriff’s Office has seen about four or five instances recently of Colorado drivers under the influence of marijuana. “It was always the same thing: ‘I have a prescription for it.’ Well, it’s not good here, and I think, inside, they know that’s the case, but try to utilize that as an excuse for being in possession,” O’Malley said. “It just doesn’t work for us.” Cushman said he was concerned about those instances of people driving under the influence of marijuana increasing more now that Colorado has legalized possession and consumption. “I think that those driving areas like (Highway) 287 and I-25 corridors are going to become more increasingly dangerous,” Cushman said. “It’s my belief — and if you look at some of the statistics, I know there’s conflicting information now …. But there are other studies that are still coming out that basically say there is a problem with estimation of distances, there’s a problem with your ability to take in a large multi-level problem and then come up with a solution, which is what driving is.” Anyone driving under the influence who is pulled over by Laramie police will likely be given a standard field sobriety test and then arrested, Cushman said. Many LPD officers are trained drug-recognition experts, meaning they can determine if a driver is operating under the influence of a wide variety of substances, including marijuana. “It trains us in the ability to go ahead and do a modified field sobriety test, and that will tell us what type of drugs are on board, aside from just alcohol,” he said. “So we are ready for that type of driving.” Roads are the Police Department’s top concern with Colorado’s new marijuana laws, but Cushman said Laramie and other communities near the border will likely face a wide variety of new challenges and changing minds. “We also expect some things where people’s attitudes here will be different only because it’s legal there, and they will think it’s not such a big deal — ‘I can go ahead and have a little bit on me,’ and things like that,” he said. “That attitude doesn’t transfer to law enforcement. If you’ve got any, you can be cited or arrested, and I think that a lot of people are going to have a friction point there.” More relaxed attitudes toward marijuana could also lead to a variety of increased instances of possession within a drug-free school zone, which is a felony no matter the amount, and more, Cushman said. “You’re also going to have some transportation issues where people are going to be transporting it across state lines, and that’s always a bigger deal than if they just went from town to town. A lot of people don’t realize that,” he said. “So those types of things, I think, are going to start to resurface.” University of Wyoming spokesperson Chad Baldwin said a variety of programs educating students about the effects and legal risks of marijuana useage are offered through UW’s Student Services office. Even after the vote to legalize in Colorado, the future of those laws is hazy. Gov. John Hickenlooper is planning a marijuana task force while waiting for the federal government to respond to the November vote, according to the Associated Press. The task force could recommend possible legislation about the measure. No matter what Colorado has done with marijuana, it continues to be both illegal in Wyoming and also illegal on the federal level, meaning the potential for legal conflicts between state and federal enforcement is very real, Cushman said. Until that changes, he recommends people stay away from marijuana. “The federal law has not changed anywhere,” he said. “So my advice to them is to stay away from that until all of those questions are answered. Then, and only then, and only after careful introspection, should they choose whether they want to use it or not.” http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2012/12/04/news/doc50bd83c535886991002627.txt
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