More Colorado pot being seized in mail en route to other states, report says

[amannamedtruth]

Not surprising.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-colorado-pot-seized-mail-110449051.html

DENVER (AP) -- The amount of Colorado marijuana being seized en route to other states through the U.S. mail has more than quadrupled since 2010 and was destined for more states than before, according to a new report by a federally funded drug task force.
Postal inspectors seized more than 493 pounds of pot from packages in 2013, up from 57 pounds in 2010, the year after medical marijuana dispensaries proliferated in Colorado, according to the figures released this month by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
Just 15 packages were bound for 10 states in 2010, compared to the 207 parcels destined for 33 states in 2013. Top destinations were Florida, Maryland and Illinois, the report states.
Colorado legalized marijuana for all adults over 21 in 2012. The report, based on information from the United States Postal Inspection Service, doesn't contain figures for the first six months of 2014, when recreational pot shops opened in the state. The Postal Service in Denver has denied requests from The Associated Press for the same data.
The spike in pot seizures is a sign not of more proactive postal investigations but that more people are shipping pot through the mail, said Tom Gorman, director of Rocky HIDTA, a network of law enforcement organizations in four western states that share information on drug-running patterns. It releases a yearly report about marijuana legalization as part of its work.
Despite being legal in Colorado, federal law maintains marijuana use and sales are illegal. Because the Postal Service is a federal agency, using it to move marijuana — even within states where it is legal — is a crime.
Denver attorney Brian Vicente, who helped write the pot law, said the leakage of Colorado marijuana into other states is a serious issue that voters agreed should remain illegal. But he was skeptical of the HIDTA report, which he said promotes prohibition.
The U.S. Justice Department said it would tolerate marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington as long as the pot didn't cross state lines. But federal authorities rarely pursue cases involving small-scale marijuana smuggling.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver said some cases remain under investigation.
"We're supposed to eliminate the black market, but we've become the black market for so many states," Gorman said. "It's all about making money for most of these people. I send you marijuana or edibles, and you pay me for it, and I can get a lot more money by trafficking it to states where it is illegal."
He said people are also sending it through private couriers like FedEx and UPS, which don't release statistics on their seizures. Neither company would comment on how it investigates such cases.
Postal inspectors haven't changed their enforcement approach despite the "uptick in marijuana leaving the state," said Denver-based U.S. Postal Inspector Pamela Durkee, who would not elaborate. She said the focus remains on thwarting and dismantling large-scale enterprises and organized groups that send high volumes of pot and narcotics.
"We wish we had a few extra bodies, but we don't see the challenges as being a lot different than they have been in the past," Durkee said.
Gorman said much of the illegal exports come from people who grow their own plants either at home or in warehouses. State law allows adults to grow up to six plants, though doctors can recommend more for medical patients. The complexities of the law make it difficult for police to enforce high-volume grows.
Among the cases listed in the report:
—A Lakewood, Colorado, man who police say used his condo and a warehouse to grow enough high-grade marijuana for his crime ring to send between 24 and 60 pounds each month to out-of-state customers.
—A Boulder, Colorado, man who sent more than 14 pounds of pot to places including Wisconsin, Massachusetts and California.
—A suburban Denver drug task force seized nearly 20 pounds of pot from three FedEx packages bound for Illinois and Kansas.

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

Gosh, I am shocked, shocked I say.

 

[aridbud]

Good thing they don't know our method! Ha!

Really....mailing LBS of pot!!? Recall it being saturated in nearby states BEFORE legalization. Bet it subsides with more postal seizures or more states deciding to decriminalize, decide MMJ isn't as worrisome as first projected. I prefer the latter.

Studies have (supposedly) shown less DUI's since legal inception. Let's hope that trend continues....and locals/tourists alike treat cannabis with respect.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

So they stopped like .1 percent of it mailed out.... Maybe.

 

[stoned-trout]

got to send that shit somewhere....you can get top dollar in other states for crap

 

[HatchBrew]

Why would they ship it to CA!!! seems silly. we got plenty here already

 

[MelloYello]

Why would they ship it to CA!!! seems silly. we got plenty here already

They didn't tell the rest of the story.
The guys in Cali just wanted to laugh at it and send it back.

 

[Ichabod Crane]

Why would they ship it to CA!!! seems silly. we got plenty here already

My guess is genetics. Maybe some clone only strains.

 

[eventualist]

Hmmm let's see, since my new guy has Cali connections, I've enjoyed some excellent Girl Scout cookies, head bands and some to die for fantastic sativa heavy red dragon. Wow, loved RD. today I was given green crack and money back!!

I asked why? He said "got a better deal in quantity"

Before this, the last 28 years in Texas, my experience has been mostly brown brick from south of the border. Occasional bright green bud would roll along, but not near often enough.

I can't say enough good things about our western friends. Idk about others, but we ain't getting sloppy seconds out here.

 

[NEGT1]

This is why our federal government needs to step in and create national laws. It's not wrong for norcal to ship out of state. Every other type of agriculture does it and again, it's not a horrible thing to ship oranges from Fl to the North east. Honestly they've helped flush out shitty growers in other states.

 

[bigAl25]

I'm happy as hell it is happening. What did these dumb asses think. I really enjoyed stopping at mile high buying a quarter of golden goat and 303 kush legally. My weed is better flushed, not as bone dry, and just as good, if not better. But, to be able to buy legally in Denver was too damn cool. The other 48 states need to reform their cannabis laws immediately. Beats the hell out of booze. Peace and respect

 

[amannamedtruth]

Yea, personally I'm stoked that our mail system is being flooded with dank. I wonder if post offices will start bumping up their rates for two day delivery out of Denver, lol.

 

[HighDesertAz]

Lol, I saw this coming from a mile away.

Money makes the world go round. If enough money is involved people will take huge risks, life, limb and freedom.

Like when they said cannabis was a dangerous drug that caused people to kill each other and it should remain illegal.... its not the cannabis its the money from prohibition.

Prohibition kills.

 

[dddaver]

Isn't it really strange that the post office is always crying they need more money but by allowing cannabis shipping instead of their huge wastes on a clearly failed drug war and intercepting packages, and then a lot gets through anyway, probably even the majority shipped, but allowing shipping would go a long way toward relieving the shortages? How ironic. More than that, just stupid.

I mean if possession of more than 20g here wasn't a felony, then I would probably order something. I have a documented medical need and easily would qualify medically. It just gets crazier and crazier. The feds really need to get up off their ass and do something.