Colorado Hosts Alaska Cops For Pot Legalization Tips, Pitfalls

DENVER (CBS4) - Law enforcement officials from Alaska caught a firsthand look at retail marijuana operations in Colorado as their state prepares for its own legalized recreational use.

The tour was part of a larger summit held by Denver law enforcement this week. Law enforcement nationwide traveled to Colorado to learn more about how the state has handled legalization.

Alaska voters approved pot in November's election. They're the fourth state to legalize the drug.

"I've seen a lot of grows in law enforcement over the decades. They're very similar," Bill Comer, the police chief in Valdez, Alaska, said.

The difference: Those were against the law. In Colorado, they're entirely legal.

"This is legitimate business that has taken steps to make it profitable," Greg Russell, a police consultant, said.

Over the next year, officials in Alaska will be developing their own marijuana regulations. Officers in charge of enforcement spent the last three days at the marijuana summit hosted by the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police.

Russell said Colorado officials shared "where they made the mistakes, or where they dropped the ball, or where they could improve on. They shared all of those lessons learned with us. It was fabulous."

One of Colorado's biggest concerns continues to be pot edibles and how to stop residents from driving high, all things Alaska officials hope to avoid.

Tim Cullen, a co-owner of Colorado harvest company, opened the doors to one of his facilities, giving Alaska cops a different perspective on what works.

"I try to tell them the things on the ground that work really well from enforcement, to things that maybe should have been thought through a little more carefully," Cullen said.

The visitors' police association openly opposed legalization, but Comer said his job is to relay the information he's gathered.

"In my role as a police chief, certainly (it's to) give them what I've learned here. As a role model as a father or community member, I may have another opinion," he said.