Balderdash.
I agree legalizing drugs was suppose to make it so crime would go down because the criminals were to stoned to want to commit crimes.
I dunno. Actually, I would expect it. Prior to legalization the drugs were moving by fairly stable “ known operators”. Think about it, the surrounding states are the “problem”. Not just anybody could become a pot distributor when the source is difficult to get to and return. You had to be committed to get involved.
Legalization in Colorado means anyone within 500 miles can become a “mom and pip” distributor. So you get a sudden entry into the market of a bunch of folks that “aren’t pros”. Say what you will about “dirty cops” but at a certain level of political corruption dirty cops are REQUIRED to keep the amateurs out of the crime business so violence does not escalate.
The best way to deal with such a situation is go back up the food chain and get rid of the corrupt politicians, then get rid of the dirty cops, then prosecute the criminals.
When the surrounding states legalize, the “mom and pop” distributors will go back to whatever they were doing before they got into the “distributing pot for fun and profit” and the tide of crap that washed into Colorado will ebb. Being from Colorado it would be nice if it were that easy to get all the crap that floated in from the coasts to go home. Maybe then I would go home.