MANTORVILLE, Minn. – Sheriff Scott Rose of Dodge County worries that police agencies are ill-equipped to deal with legalized marijuana. Police can’t even make progress in their Toward Zero Deaths project against drunken driving. “We still don’t have the alcohol in check yet,” he said in an interview with television station KTTC. “And now you’re going to add an additional element here.” Noting a growing shortage of police officers statewide, Rose said that few police departments have the funding for training or staff for problems that he says would result from legalized marijuana. Rose said that marijuana use for kids ages 12 and has increased 29% in Colorado, which has legalized marijuana for eight years. The Colorado suicide rate is 61% higher than the national average, he said.
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