I went to Denver, Colorado, on vacation this past weekend. As a criminal defense lawyer and advocate for the reform of drug laws, I was curious to see how legalized marijuana was going in Denver. Texas, as I have written about previously, is still in my view a long way off legalizing marijuana. However, legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana have snuck into the past several Texas Legislative sessions (only to be defeated.) Texas will get there eventually, but what does the legalization of marijuana bring with it? I had lived in Denver for nearly a couple of years about thirteen years ago, so I had some reference point for what Denver circa 2001-2 looked like. How would Denver 2015 compare?
What I saw—or, more accurately, what I did not see—in Denver surprised me.
I expected to encounter plumes of marijuana smoke as soon as our cab pulled into downtown Denver. Not so. I expected to see people smoking joints openly in the street, or while sitting in front of bars downtown. Not so.
In fact, the only visible sign that marijuana was legal in Colorado were the occasionally dispensaries (I counted less than half a dozen in downtown Denver, but there are presumably far, far more discreetly named ones), and the poorly named eateries that referenced marijuana or getting high (e.g., The Cheba Hut: home of the “toasted” sub).
Part of this is likely attributable to the fact that smoking weed publicly in Colorado is illegal. That is, a person can smoke weed in their home, or in a private location, but cannot legally smoke pot on a city street, in a park, or in any other public location in Colorado. This part of the law appeared to be loosely followed: people could be seen smoking in alleys, or in corners of a public park far away from others; the practice seemed to be more that discreet smoking was permissible.
Even with my earlier expectations as to what legalized marijuana in Colorado would look like, I still expected to encounter people who either smelled of marijuana smoke or were stoned out of their minds in public. Not so. At least, I ran into about as many people who smell of marijuana or are visibly stoned in Denver as I do when I am out and about in Denton or in any college town. I would guess maybe 10 or so people over a four day trip fit this description. And, to note, public intoxication—be it via alcohol, controlled substances, or legal marijuana—is still illegal in Colorado.
Anytime I am on vacation, I make it a point to ask the locals (the cabdrivers, the bartenders, the waiters, students at the local university, et al.) what they think, see, like/dislike, and believe about their city. I did the same in Denver—I asked cab drivers, waiters, bar tenders, patrons at bars, students, employees at shops, and everyone I ran into basically—what they thought about legalized marijuana and how it had impacted Denver.
The general consensus was that legalizing marijuana was wonderful for the local economy: though approximately 500 new people per day were moving into Denver and surrounding suburbs, Colorado’s unemployment rate was reportedly around 4%. (In fact, the unemployment rate was 4.2% in February of 2015.) I saw construction of new buildings and offices everywhere, particularly in the Cherry Park area of Denver. It looked like Frisco did ten years ago (or today.)
In short, the legalization of marijuana appeared to have little or no visible effect on Colorado (other than a massive influx of people to the state.)
My point is this: legalizing marijuana has not yet brought about the end of life was Colorado knows it. I did not see rioting, burning structures, or people shooting heroin on the street. Life appeared pretty normal.