4 Ways Marijuana Users Can Face Drug Charges in Colorado

If you’re a marijuana user, you’re probably pretty happy to be living in Colorado. It’s easy for you to make a trip to your local dispensary and enjoy a relaxing night. But just because recreational marijuana is legal, that doesn’t mean everything regarding marijuana is legal in our state.

There are still numerous ways that marijuana users can face drug crime charges for possession, sale, distribution, and cultivation of marijuana. So let’s look at four of those ways.

1. It’s [...]

Colorado’s Marijuana Laws and Penalties

If you are a recreational user of marijuana, legalization probably made you stand up and cheer. Finally you could stop hiding and feeling guilty about using marijuana. If you wanted to light up on the street, you could just do it.

Wrong.

With the legalization of recreational marijuana use under Amendment 64, you may be under the impression that marijuana laws are now obsolete in Colorado. This, however, is not the case.

While the recreational use of marijuana is allowed, [...]

Are Penalties for Drug Crimes Too Harsh?

Few would argue that the penalties for drug crimes in the US are anything but incredibly harsh. Under current Colorado and federal laws, the punishment for possessing even small amounts of illegal drugs may include prison time, staggering fines, and a lifelong criminal record. It is not uncommon for non-violent drug crimes to be penalized with lifelong prison sentences.

Current penalties are so tough that many advocates are calling for drug law reform, arguing that current laws crowd prisons and [...]

Can You Be Fired for Failing a Drug Test?

With so few federal laws governing the use of drug tests in the workplace, it is left largely up to state legislatures to regulate employer drug testing matters. While other states have laws restricting how drug tests can be used in places of employment, Colorado has relatively few.

In our state, while there are certain laws that protect the privacy of tested employees, there are virtually no laws that protect workers from being required to take a drug test or [...]

Colorado Marijuana Public Display and Consumption Charges Rise

Criminal justice in Colorado has undergone some drastic changes since the state legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana in 2012.

According to a report from the Drug Policy Alliance, the number of marijuana charges for possession, distribution, and cultivation fell by 95 percent between 2010 and 2014. Possession charges dropped from 30,428 in 2010 to 1,922 in 2014, while distribution and cultivation charges have become nearly nonexistent.

However, though possession, distribution, and cultivation charges have dropped, there has [...]