Despite dire predictions by anti-marijuana activists, overall crime rates in the city of Denver are down more than five months after legal marijuana sales began in the Rocky Mountain state. According to the Denver Department of Public Safety, rates of violent crime are down, as well as burglaries, leading to an overall decrease in crime of 10.6 percent.
The city measured the number of reported crimes from January 1st to April 30th of 2014 and compared them to the same period last year, prior to the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana use.
The number of murders, sexual assaults, violent robberies and other assaults fell by 5.6 percent. The most dramatic decrease was in the number of homicides. In 2013, from January to the end of April, the city lost 17 people to murder. In the same period in 2014, only 8 died, a drop of more than 50 percent.
For some reason arson is up and so is petty larceny, but the crime spree predicted by some on the Right has not materialized.
I am not a huge advocate of legalizing drugs as a rule, but any changes in current law that keep non-violent drug users out of jail seems like a good idea to me.
And thankfully Alaska is about to get the opportunity to vote on a similar bill themselves, which overall I think will prove to be very good for our state.
