FILE - In this April 14, 2016 file photo, investigators load marijuana plants onto a Colorado National Guard truck outside a suspected illegal grow operation in Denver. Colorado is set to become the first state to use marijuana taxes to fund police efforts to crack down on illegal growing operations. (P. Solomon Banda, File/Associated Press)DENVER — The first recreational pot market in the U.S. notched another marijuana first Thursday when Colorado started using marijuana taxes to fund police efforts to crack down on illegal growing operations. John Hickenlooper sets aside nearly $6 million a year in Colorado marijuana tax revenue to reimburse police for investigating black-market marijuana activity that authorities say has increased since the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2012. The fund was backed by police groups who complain that marijuana legalization has attracted illicit marijuana growers along with legal ones.

Source: Washington Post June 08, 2017 19:09 UTC