Colorado is becoming an Expensive Headache for Surrounding States

States are fighting a new kind of border battle against marijuana trafficking. The weed used to come from Mexico -- now, it's coming from Colorado. 

Ever since Colorado legalized pot, law enforcement officers in surrounding states have noticed a surge in marijuana being brought across state lines.

And it's causing headaches, as the other states face rising costs associated with arresting and processing those who mistakenly think they can get away with transporting marijuana purchased legally in Colorado. 

"One of the [arguments] for legalizing marijuana [in Colorado and Washington state] ... was to reduce the black market," said Tom Gorman, who heads a multi-state task force called the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. "In fact, the legalized marijuana has become the black market for other states."

Mark Overman, the sheriff for Scotts Bluff County in Nebraska, said the trafficking is likely an "unintended consequence" of Colorado's decision last November, "but it was a completely predictable consequence" 

Like other parts of the nation, Overman says there's always been illegal marijuana in his county, which sits some 50 miles north of the Colorado border in Nebraska. He says the main source used to be international.

"Primarily it was coming from Mexico and drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. But probably starting in about 2012 was when we really became aware of the Colorado connection." 

Most of the areas that border Colorado are rural, and officials in those regions now say dealing with all the marijuana coming out of Colorado is breaking their small budgets.

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