Pubdate: Mon, 03 Feb 2014
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2014 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463
Author: Silas Allen, The Oklahoman
Page: A11

COLORADO MARIJUANA NOT COMING HERE - YET

Law Enforcement Hasn't Seen the Over-The-Border Deluge They're
Expecting.

BOISE CITY - A month after recreational marijuana became legal in
Colorado, the flood of Rocky Mountain weed law enforcement officials
predicted would come across the border into Oklahoma doesn't appear to
have materialized. At least, not yet. About 53 percent of Colorado
voters in November 2012 voted to repeal the state's ban on
recreational marijuana. That change went into effect at the beginning
of January.

The new law allows anyone older than 21 to buy small amounts of
marijuana from dispensaries in the state. Colorado residents may buy
up to an ounce of marijuana in one transaction, while outof-state
residents are limited to a quarter ounce.

Before the change, officials predicted the new law would lead to an
increase in marijuana coming into Oklahoma from Colorado, similar to
the spike the state saw when Colorado legalized medical marijuana in
2010.

But Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs Control, said the officials haven't seen any
substantial increase in the amount of marijuana the bureau seizes over
the past month.

The bureau intercepts a shipment of marijuana coming from Colorado
about every two to three weeks, Woodward said. That hasn't changed
much since Colorado legalized medical marijuana. But he said he
suspects the state will begin to see the number of shipments increase
as the months go by.

"It's probably just a matter of time," he said. "It's too early to
have hard, fast numbers on how many."

It's also difficult for state narcotics agents to tell whether a
shipment of marijuana they seize comes from Colorado, Woodward said.
Marijuana coming into the state from Colorado is usually packaged in
clear bags. Medical marijuana coming from California is usually
packaged the same way, meaning it's difficult to tell one from the
other unless the driver tells officers where it came from, he said.

Despite that uncertainty, Woodward said the bureau has seized a few
large shipments of marijuana officers suspect were bought in Colorado.
A few shipments were well more than 200 pounds, Woodward said.

In those cases, Woodward said, officers think buyers went to Colorado
and bought large amounts of marijuana from a legal dispensary.
Although state law places a quarter-ounce limit on sales to out-of-
state residents, Woodward said those limits can be hard to enforce.

"They cannot regulate every sale," he said. "They can't have police in
every marijuana patch and every dispensary to see what's being sold
under the table and what's going out the back door."

State narcotics officers have also intercepted drivers from as far
away as North Carolina and New Jersey carrying shipments of Colorado
marijuana through Oklahoma and back to the East Coast. Because of the
higher quality of the marijuana coming from Colorado, sellers are
sometimes able to sell it for thousands of dollars more per pound than
lower-grade pot from Mexican cartels.

Cimarron County Sheriff Leon Apple said his office also hasn't seen
any increase in the amount of marijuana coming into his county, which
is the only part of Oklahoma that shares a border with Colorado.
Deputies have been told to be on the lookout for it, he said.

Unless a deputy pulls over a driver for another offense, such as
speeding or erratic driving, there's no way to tell if that driver is
carrying marijuana, he said.

"I'm sure we're missing some that's coming through," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt