Colorado's decriminalization of marijuana: A forecast for justice system administrators (2016)

In the modern era of diminishing justice system budgets and liberalization of drug laws, states can learn valuable lessons from those states that have decriminalized or legalized marijuana use. For the justice system administrator in California and elsewhere an important question can be asked: What can states learn from Colorado's liberalization of its marijuana laws? Seven states, including California are poised to legalize cannabis and the debate continues whether this is a proper course of action, since opponents support the premise that cannabis is a powerful and dangerous drug, which contributes to serious health problems and criminal behavior while advocates dismiss those concerns due to the alleged benefits marijuana can have for the sick (Becker, 2015). Marijuana use has had a significant impact on the law enforcement agencies and citizens of California for many decades but recent research supports the premise that increases in marijuana cultivation and use is linked to the liberalization of marijuana laws, which present unique challenges for federal, state, and local law enforcement officials (United States Department of Justice {USDOJ}, Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area {HIDTA}, 2015) (USDOJ, HIDTA, 2015). This professional project will focus on health, justice system, environmental, and fiscal impacts of marijuana, based primarily on the Colorado experience. This paper intends to provide the modern justice system administrator or stake holder the basis from which to make a more informed decision on whether or not to support cannabis legalization in their jurisdiction or, what, if any, restrictions should be applied to limit potential health, justice, environmental, and fiscal impacts that have impacted states like Colorado (Hudak, 2015).