ILLEGAL MARIJUANA GROWS IN EL PASO COUNTY, Part 3

ILLEGAL MARIJUANA GROWS IN EL PASO COUNTY, Part 3

Chief Pete Carey of the Colorado Springs Police Department closed out the presentation talking about effects on Colorado Springs due to the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado. His focus was on our streets, our schools, and our kids. He talked about how the smell of burning marijuana has become commonplace in many of the city’s parks and public areas. And, that is without Colorado Springs legalizing the sale of marijuana in contrast to Denver and Pueblo who have. Chief Carey pointed out how Denver now has more stores selling recreational marijuana than Denver has liquor stores and Starbucks combined. (I find that quite a social evolution in just three years.)
Chief Carey talked about interviewing hundreds of applicants for positions with CSPD. He mentioned when some out-of-state applicants get a little nervous about the upcoming interview, they smoke a joint to mellow out. After all, this is Colorado. He said they come into his office smelling like Cheech and Chong. He suggests to them that they consider reapplying in 18 months.
This was a fairly free-wheeling presentation with the speakers standing among the audience and away from the podium. I’ve tried to clean up the audio some, but some words are difficult to hear. All three presenters expressed a willingness to provide speakers for civic groups to help educate citizens on these problems.

Many statistics in the overall presentation are from: The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado The Impact – Volume 5. This October 2017 report is available on the Website of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program (HIDTA) at http://www.rmhidta.org/ The report is prominently displayed in the website’s Reports Section, where you can read it or download a PDF. The speakers highly recommended this information.