Pubdate: Sat, 05 Apr 2014
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2014 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Sadie Gurman, Associated Press

MARIJUANA CRIMES CONTINUE

Despite New Law in Colorado, Black Market Thrives

DENVER (AP) - A 25- year-old is shot dead trying to sell marijuana the
old-fashioned, illegal way.

Two men from Texas set up a warehouse to grow more than they would
ever need.

And three people buying pot in a grocery store parking lot are robbed
at gunpoint.

While no one expected the state's first-in-the-nation recreational
sales would eliminate the need for dangerous underground sales
overnight, the violence has raised concerns among police, prosecutors
and pot advocates that a black market for marijuana is alive and well
in Colorado.

"It has done nothing more than enhance the opportunity for the black
market," said Lt. Mark Comte of the Colorado Springs police vice and
narcotics unit. "If you can get it tax-free on the corner, you're
going to get it on the corner."

It's difficult to measure whether there has been an increase in pot-
related crimes beyond anecdotal reports because no one at either the
federal or state levels is keeping track of the numbers of killings,
robberies and other crimes linked directly to marijuana.

Pot advocates say the state is in a transition period and while pot-
related crimes will continue, they will begin to decline as more
stores open and prices of legal marijuana decline.

"It's just a transition period," activist Brian Vicente said.
"Marijuana was illegal for the last 80 years in our state and there
are some remnants of that still around. Certainly, much like alcohol,
over time these underground dealers will fade away."

Sales are due to begin in June in Washington, where authorities will
be watching for similar cases.

"There's going to be a black market here," said Cmdr. Pat Slack of the
Snohomish Regional Drug/ Gang Task Force, which covers an area outside
Seattle. "There will be drug rip-offs and drug debts that haven't
been paid. All of that is going to stay."

Under Colorado's voter-approved law, it is legal to possess up to an
ounce of marijuana. Authorities are concerned that means illegal
dealers and buyers believe they can avoid prosecution. These dealers
and their customers also tend to be targets, if robbers know they are
flush with cash.

Arapahoe County, outside Denver, has seen "a growing number of drug
rips and outright burglaries and robberies of people who have large
amounts of marijuana or cash on them," said District Attorney George
Brauchler.

His district has seen at least three homicides linked to pot in recent
months and a rising number of robberies and home invasions.

Among them was a February case in which a 17- year-old boy said he
accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend while robbing a man who
had come to purchase weed.

Elsewhere, prosecutors say, Nathaniel Tallman, 25, was killed during a
January drug deal when he was robbed and shot, and his body dumped in
Wyoming.

The next month, a dealer mugged three people buying marijuana in
Denver.

Such deals are the exception, said Vicente. The "average customer"
prefers to buy in a well-lit, regulated store, he said, citing the
roughly $ 2 million Colorado made in marijuana taxes in January alone. 
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