In November 2012 Colorado legalized marijuana for adults over age 21 by passing Amendment 64 to the Colorado Constitution.
consequences schmonsequences
Posted on 10/06/2022 5:48:12 AM PDT by MtnClimber
A local think-tank just reported that the state's cities have some of the highest crime rates in the nation. Guess why.
The Common Sense Institute (CSI), a think-tank local to Colorado, reported at the beginning of October 2022 that the state's cities have some of the highest crime rates in the nation.
"Crime in Colorado in 2022: The Data on Colorado's Increasing Crime Problem" was authored by George Brauchler, Mitch Morrissey, and Steven Byers, Ph.D.
"It is very difficult to comprehend Colorado, the Colorado I grew up in ... hosting four cities in the top ten for all these crime rates," said Brauchler at a related news conference, according to The Denver Gazette. Brauchler is the former district attorney for Colorado's 18th Judicial District.
As a fourth-generation Coloradoan, I am also shocked by the findings and by how far our cities have fallen under Democrat governance.
The first paragraph of the first section of the report, "Introduction and Key Findings," gives a reason for the rise in crime. "Advocates for criminal justice reform have made significant inroads in the past few years. Measures have been enacted to decriminalize a range of crimes, reduce the punishments for committing crimes, and pursue decarceration through various means. The results of these actions have had a serious and lasting impact on Colorado communities, resulting in increased crime and a decrease in public safety."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
the “benefits” of wokeism.
Colorado ping
+ “it’s only weed, man!”
The Kalifornication of Colorado continues...
It’d be interesting to see the 167 cities in a straight list... but replace the name with the associated political color
I’d imagine the vast majority of the top 50% would be blue
wy, My, My, where’s Joe Kenda???
They legalized weed.
Colorado Springs remains an island of conservative common sense in a rapidly bluing state.
The just-published FBI list of high crime cities omits LA and NYC according to a cable news report. Or apple pie without the sugar and apples.
In November 2012 Colorado legalized marijuana for adults over age 21 by passing Amendment 64 to the Colorado Constitution.
consequences schmonsequences
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
Leftists and dope always invite crime. Just the way it is. Always has been. You get too many leftists and the place goes to hell.
Such a beautiful state too.
I don’t know for sure but I would guess a constant battle goes on between legal weed and illegal weed operations. We know who undercuts the other.
Much of the nation is or is in the process of legalizing weed. They were just the first
“+ “it’s only weed, man!””
Two of my three renters who were only smoking pot prior to getting the windfall Covid money raining down from the US government. They were living paycheck to paycheck and never lost their income, but they suddenly were nine to ten thousand dollars richer, or one rent payment per month. Did they sock that money away? No, they apparently spent it on more drugs. Even though they never lost their income I had to evict them for nonpayment of rent when the government money shower ended. One of them worked/works(?) in a prison and the other was on social security. The one common element was the clear evidence of pot smoking prior to the helicopter money.
There’s probably a whole spectrum of people smoking pot, half of which won’t let it destroy them. But for others it is gateway drug to ruin.
the “benefits” of wokeism
************
The only people who benefit from wokeism are Democrat donors.
I have a plan to destroy America by Richard D. Lamm
Listen to this speech given 10 years ago by Richard Lamm, former governor of Colorado. He outlines how America can be destroyed ‘easily’.
I have a plan to destroy America
by Richard D. Lamm
I have a secret plan to destroy America. If you believe, as many do, that America is too smug, too white bread, too self-satisfied, too rich, let’s destroy America. It is not that hard to do. History shows that nations are more fragile than their citizens think. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and they all fall, and that “an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.” Here is my plan:
1. We must first make America a bilingual-bicultural country. History shows, in my opinion, that no nation can survive the tension, conflict and antagonism of two competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. One scholar, Seymour Martin Lipset, put it this way: “The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension and tragedy. Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with its Basques, Bretons and Corsicans.”
2. I would then invent “multiculturalism” and encourage immigrants to maintain their own culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal: that there are no cultural differences that are important. I would declare it an article of faith that the black and Hispanic dropout rate is only due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out-of-bounds.
3. We can make the United States a “Hispanic Quebec” without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently, “The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved, not by tolerance, but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically, and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.” I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with a salad bowl metaphor. It is important to insure that we have various cultural sub-groups living in America reinforcing their differences, rather than Americans emphasizing their similarities.
4. Having done all this, I would make our fastest-growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50 percent dropout rate from school.
5. I would then get the big foundations and big business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of victimology. I would get all minorities to think their lack of success was all the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population.
6. I would establish dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would “celebrate diversity.” “Diversity” is a wonderfully seductive word. It stresses differences rather than commonalities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other–that is, when they are not killing each other. A “diverse,” peaceful or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together, and we can take advantage of this myopia.
Look at the ancient Greeks. Dorf’s “World History” tells us: “The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshiped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games in honor of Zeus, and all Greeks venerated the shrine of Apollo at Delphi. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet, all of these bonds together were not strong enough to overcome two factors … (local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions …)” If we can put the emphasis on the “pluribus,” instead of the “unum,” we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo.
7. Then I would place all these subjects off-limits–make it taboo to talk about. I would find a word similar to “heretic” in the 16th century that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like “racist”, “xenophobe” halt argument and conversation. Having made America a bilingual-bicultural country, having established multiculturalism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of “victimology,” I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra –”because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good.” I would make every individual immigrant sympatric and ignore the cumulative impact.
8. Lastly, I would censor Victor Davis Hanson’s book “Mexifornia” –this book is dangerous; it exposes my plan to destroy America. So please, please–if you feel that America deserves to be destroyed–please, please–don’t buy this book! This guy is on to my plan.
Pueblo, my home town. I left in 1988 and haven’t been back but a handful of times since then. My family moved to Rye to get away from the malcontents who took over the city. Wasn’t a bad place to grow up, but it sure did take a nose dive over the years.
I know a guy who has his own business and was looking to hire me a few years ago. Everyone works remotely for him, but he insisted everyone be in Colorado.
The wife and I did some digging, and decided Colorado wasn’t going in the right direction, so I passed. Seeing this article doesn’t make me regret my decision.
That’s part of it but a symptom not the root cause. The real problem is Colorado has gone from a reliably conservative state to deep blue lala land. I’ve been here over 50 and have watched it happen. Weed would have never been legalized 20-30 years ago. Now we are to the left of commiefornia
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