Crime Rates Down in Colorado Since Legalizing Marijuana

More than five months after dispensaries officially started selling recreational marijuana to adults in Colorado, reports reveal that overall crime rates are down across the state, especially in Denver.

The Denver Department of Public Safety has announced that both burglaries and overall violent crimes are both down over 10%. They were able to gather data by measuring the reported crimes from January through the end of April in 2013 prior to the legalization of recreational marijuana versus the reported crimes from January to the end of April of 2014.

Denver found the most drastic decrease in crime fell in the category of homicide. There was only 8 homicides post legalization as opposed to 17 in 2013, before marijuana was legalized. Brian Vicente, a marijuana legalization activist was quoted by the New York Times as saying, “Every major institution said this would be horrible and lead to violence and blood in the streets. None of that has happened. The sky did not fall.”

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