Denver, CO: The total number of charges filed in Colorado courts for marijuana possession, distribution, and cultivation fell from 38,878 in 2010 to 2,036 in 2014, a reduction of some 95 percent, according to data obtained by the Court Services Division of the Colorado Judicial Branch and published by the Drug Policy Alliance.
In November 2012, Colorado voters decided in favor of a ballot measure legalizing the adult possession and cultivation of limited quantities of cannabis.
Since 2012, marijuana possession charges are down nearly 80 percent. Marijuana cultivation charges are down 94 percent during this same time period; marijuana distribution charges fell by 98 percent.
"The change in the composition of arrests demonstrates the extent to which legal distribution has replaced illicit distribution," the report finds.
Licensed retail sales of cannabis began in the state on January 1, 2014.
Full text of the report, "Marijuana Arrests in Colorado After the Passage of Amendment 64," is available online at: http://www.drugpolicy.org.