Pubdate: Sat, 14 Jun 2014
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
Copyright: 2014 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Contact: http://www2.arkansasonline.com/contact/voicesform/
Website: http://www2.arkansasonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/25
Note: Accepts letters to the editor from Arkansas residents only
Author: Cammie Bellamy
Page: 1B

COLORADO OFFICER DISCUSSES PROBLEMS OF LEGALIZED 'POT'

Anti-marijuana advocates met in Little Rock on Friday to hear from 
Sgt. Jim Gerhardt, a Colorado police officer who said legalization 
has caused major problems in his state.

The event, held at the state Chamber of Commerce and coordinated by 
the conservative Arkansas Family Council and law enforcement 
officials, focused on marijuana-related initiatives proposed for the 
November ballot.

Gerhardt has been a vocal opponent of pro-marijuana efforts in and 
beyond Colorado. Speaking from his experience with the Thornton 
(Colo.) Police Department and the Denver-based North Metro Drug Task 
Force, he urged attendees not to support legalization in Arkansas.

"In Colorado, I think we've - for whatever reason - become a lot more 
tolerant of drug activity and drug abuse in general. We've really 
lowered a lot of criminal penalties for all kinds of drug activity," 
Gerhardt said. "We're paying a big public safety price right now 
because of it."

An initiative to legalize medical marijuana and a proposed 
constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana in 
Arkansas are in need of signatures to get on the November ballot. The 
Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, an initiated act authored by Arkansans 
for Compassionate Care, needs 62,507 signatures to make it onto the 
ballot; The Arkansas Hemp and Cannabis Amendment needs 78,133.

To get on the ballot, an act must be signed by 8 percent of Arkansas' 
legal voters, while a proposed constitutional amendment needs 10 percent.

Citing anecdotal evidence, Gerhardt said legalizing both medical and 
recreational marijuana has caused a "tremendous problem" for Colorado 
police, from instances of violent crime committed by intoxicated 
people to dispersion of the drug to other states.

"Overall, traffic fatalities are going down, but the number of 
fatalities where somebody's under the influence of marijuana is up," 
he said. "Schools are inundated with marijuana problems. Kids are 
bringing these products to school. A lot of times the superintendents 
and school officials are having no choice but to expel kids."

But legalization advocates say Gerhardt's assertions don't hold up 
under scrutiny.

Gary Fults of Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the group behind the 
medical marijuana initiative, said Gerhardt is relying on hyperbole 
to sway Arkansans away from legalization. "We actually don't agree 
with what [Gerhardt is] saying about Colorado because we've been to 
Colorado, and if what he's saying is true, Colorado would be in a 
meltdown mode now," Fults said.

In 2012, a similar medical marijuana initiative by Arkansans for 
Compassionate Care was narrowly defeated, netting 49 percent of the vote.

Robert Reed of Dennard in Van Buren County, the author of The 
Arkansas Hemp and Cannabis Amendment to legalize recreational 
marijuana, said there aren't hard statistics to show increases in 
marijuana-related crimes in states where the drug has been legalized.

"Absolutely no one has been able to send us those statistics and 
verify them," Reed said, noting some studies actually indicate a drop 
in violent crime since legalization.

A recent study from the Denver Police Department showed that since 
Colorado vendors began selling recreational marijuana Jan. 1, violent 
crime in the city and Denver County is down from the same period in 2013.

Gerhardt acknowledged that early data on the matter are nuanced, but 
he said Colorado officials are developing ways to better track 
drug-related crime. He said such crimes are often reported in 
inconsistent ways between agencies, making it hard to definitively 
show a correlation.

"I can't give you hard numbers," he said. "That's one of the issues 
that we're having is we didn't have a great data-collection 
methodology out there, but we're bringing together people now in law 
enforcement, human services, medical providers - because everybody's 
seeing an impact. And what we have to do is be able to collect that 
data in some kind of meaningful way."

Family Council President Jerry Cox said his organization would 
continue advocating against marijuana legalization, medical and 
otherwise, through Election Day.

"We don't want to see Arkansas be the train wreck that Colorado has 
become with the legalization of marijuana there," Cox said. "We will 
obviously step our efforts to educate the people of Arkansas."

Gerhardt said he hopes states don't rush to legalization before 
weighing the outcomes.

"I would strongly discourage other states to not follow the path 
Colorado's taken. I think that the smartest thing other states can do 
right now is slow down a little bit and take a look at what's 
happening in Colorado and decide, in the end, 'Is this going to be 
good public policy or not?'"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom