Crime

Colorado's Governor Says He Could Ban Marijuana Again In The Future

The state saw a spike in crime beginning the same year weed was legalized.

Colorado's Governor Says He Could Ban Marijuana Again In The Future
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Colorado's governor, John Hickenlooper, says he could outlaw marijuana again.

Hickenlooper told CNN there are two facts he has to weigh against each other: pot became legal in Colorado in 2014 and the state began to see a huge spike in crime that same year.

But it's important to remember: Correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation — it's entirely possible the two facts just coincidentally coincide. 

And other data suggests legalized marijuana — in this case medical marijuana — actually lowered the violent crime rate in states along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Hickenlooper acknowledges the country is in the middle of a social experiment involving legalized weed and told CNN he wasn't ready to blame marijuana for the state's crime rate just yet.