International Journal on Criminology Volume 6, Number 2, Winter 2018/Spring 2019 | Page 28

Colorado: Cannabis Legalization and the Challenge of Organized Crime
out for this research study, namely the DEA and the RMHIDTA 7 (Rocky Mountain
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area), were skeptical about any weakening of
organized crime potentially caused by changes in public policies. Although their
findings must be taken with a pinch of salt given the two organizations’ hostility
to the legalization of cannabis, a number of indisputable trends point toward the
impact having been limited.
Persistence of a Significant Black Market
The first of these is that to a significant extent the marijuana black market has
persisted, accounting for as much as approximately 30 percent of the total
cannabis market, which equates to around 40 tons out of a total market
size of 130 tons. 8 This phenomenon is explained in particular by the existence of
demand not only from minors, who are still banned from using cannabis, but also
the poorest sectors of the population, which do not have the financial means to access
cannabis from retail stores, which is heavily taxed (at around 25 percent) and
expensive. The retail stores are very popular among the middle and upper classes,
which are central to the sociology behind the legalization. 9 Criminal organizations
therefore exploit this situation by providing cannabis flower (generally of a lower
quality and known as ditch weed) at very low prices. It is either imported from
Mexico or produced locally in circumvention of the law, as was pointed out in
Canadian magazine L’Actualité by Mark Kleiman, who advised Washington state
on its legalization policy: “In Colorado, where the permitted limit is six plants per
household, criminal enterprises go through rural areas and pay residents or farmers
to obtain permission to grow the permitted limit of plants somewhere on their
land. This practice is illegal, but there is no way of detecting it .” 10
In addition, stories of money from organized crime being invested in the
legal sector have hit the headlines. Operation Toker Poker, which was carried out
in 2017 after three years of investigation by state police, led to the arrest of a group
of some sixty people and the closure of twelve companies operating in the market,
and particularly in the medical marijuana sector. Part of the production was destined
for Texas, Kansas, Ohio, and Nebraska.
7 An organization that serves as an interface between the federal level, represented by the DEA, and
the local level (police forces under the authority of sheriffs) in the fight against drug trafficking.
8 Miles K. Light et al., Market Size and Demand for Marijuana in Colorado (Denver, CO: Colorado
Department of Revenue, 2015).
9 The ballot in favor of cannabis legalization revealed a clear divide between the state capital, Denver,
which overwhelmingly voted “Yes” in 2012, and rural and suburban areas of Colorado that voted
“No.” More broadly, this situation is virtually identical to that described by the geographer Christophe
Guilluy about France.
10 Mark Kleiman, interview by Richard Hetu, “Cannabis: Éviter le piège américain,” L’Actualité,
July 17, 2017. Available at: https://lactualite.com/societe/2017/07/17/cannabis-eviter-le-piegeamericain/.
Our translation.
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