Denver has just released its crime statistics for February of this year, and the city's post-marijuana crime explosion continues.

In the first two months of 2016, total reported offenses using the NIBRS definitions are up a further 10.5% over this time last year.  Crimes against persons have increased 14.1%, property crimes are up 13.8%, and crimes against society are up 18.4% compared to the same time frame in 2015.

For comparison, in January and February of 2013 – the last year for these two months before marijuana legalization – there were just 6,791 crimes in the city.  During January and February of 2016, there were 9,985, a 47% increase over the same period from 2013.

Under the UCR definitions, violent crime increased 8.6% in January and February of 2016 compared to the year before, while property crime was up 11.0%.

Population growth is only about 2% per year, meaning that Denver's crime rates are rising rapidly in the post-marijuana legalization era, compared to a stable crime rate in the years before legalization.