Denver Police Chief Richard White at Monday night’s city council meeting. (credit: CBS)
DENVER (CBS4) – There’s a chance Denver will opt out of Amendment 64 despite the fact voters in the city overwhelmingly approved legalizing marijuana.
Some members of the city council argue that while the majority of Denver voters said yes to the amendment, it was in an effort to decriminilize small amounts. Their intentions may not have been to have a marijuana store in their neighborhood.
“There are a lot of safety issues as it relates to that, tremendous safety issues,” Denver Police Chief Richard White told council members at a committee meeting on Monday night.
White highlighted the concerns and issues the department has seen in recent years in dealing with medical marijuana. However, he also said Amendment 64 will be looked at as just another ordinace in the city that will come with its own issues.
“Are we going to go out and look for people that are violating recreational marijuana in light of all the other challenges we have, I would say that’s not going to be a priority of ours,” White said.
White said the city has seen an increase in crime like burglaries since the introduction of medical marijuana.
