Colorado Police Want Changes to Cannabis Laws to Stop

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]I[/dropcap]n addition to all the good things that come with legal cannabis in Colorado, it has also been incredibly frustrating for everyone, from growers, consumers and entrepreneurs to law enforcement officials and judges, to keep track of the ever-changing regulations of this emerging industry. Now, prosecutors and police officials in Colorado are asking the state to please put a two-year moratorium on changing any laws, in order for everyone to catch up and get educated.

The Denver Post reports that a letter from law enforcement to lawmakers last month explained that police “cannot keep up with the quantity and speed of constantly changing marijuana law.”

It’s not surprising that police and other law enforcement agencies are having trouble keeping up—in the past four years alone since legalization first took off, there have been 81 bills introduced to the Colorado legislature that had to do with cannabis. Because of this, it is very conceivable that police could get mixed up and let someone go for something that should be a cited offense, or detain someone who is actually in the legal right.

“Regulation seems to change on a daily basis, and this process must be slowed down,” explained the letter. It asked for a two-year moratorium on “any changes to current law with regard to marijuana legalization, unless a strong public safety nexus is established,” in order to allow law enforcement to catch up.

The letter was handed down officially from the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, the County Sheriffs of Colorado, and the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council. It was sent because the offseason legislation committee in Colorado is currently setting an agenda for attaining a cost-benefit analysis of cannabis legalization.

The letter also asks for legislators to fund two different work groups within law enforcement to keep track of the impact of cannabis legislation, and also to train law enforcement officers on how to deal with cannabis legislation, and to create a liaison for law enforcement.

“Ever-changing cannabis regulations create the same challenges for law enforcement as they do for business owners,” explained Mark Slaugh, Executive Director of the Cannabis Business Alliance, to CULTURE. “The cannabis industry has to follow a very complex and complicated code that looks very much the same between medical and retail but is slightly nuanced and different. Most local governments don’t have the resources to adequately enforce the regulations. There could be better training for law enforcement as a solution, especially with harmonizing that training with state and local regulators to ensure there is consistency in enforcement.”

While all of the changes to cannabis legalization have been necessary to regulate and keep track of this new industry, a lack of constantly-changing laws could be beneficial for everyone. If this moratorium passes, Colorado cannabis law will stay as-is for the next two years.