A new study conducted by UNO found that an increase in marijuana-related arrests has occurred in Nebraska since the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado.
Attempting to understand the costs of prohibition in Nebraska after Colorado’s legalization, the director of the Nebraska Center for Justice Research, Ryan Spohn, explains the study’s findings.
"The main things that we found is that Nebraska’s marijuana arrest rate has increased by about 11 percent from 2013 to 2014 which is that first year since legalization of recreational use of marijuana in Colorado. And we also looked at an estimate of costs of law enforcement in jailing and our estimates suggest that those costs went up by about 11.6 percent in that one year period as well.”
Spohn said data was collected by each Nebraska county and that while the data is not causal, there is a correlation and the impact of Colorado’s new law was bigger than expected.
To view this study, visit the Nebraska Center for Justice Research page at www.unomaha.edu.