How Colorado Extradition Works for Out-of-State Criminal Charges
September 22, 2026
Drug trafficking is illegal no matter where you are. But with the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, it’s easier than ever to ship marijuana somewhere else and reap the financial benefits.
Illegal drug traffickers are using Colorado as a safe haven for growing marijuana in regulated pot farms and warehouses, then discreetly sending it to other places where traffickers can make an excellent profit.
One instance of drug trafficking had an owner of a skydiving company filling his planes with [...]
If you’re a marijuana user, you’re probably pretty happy to be living in Colorado. It’s easy for you to make a trip to your local dispensary and enjoy a relaxing night. But just because recreational marijuana is legal, that doesn’t mean everything regarding marijuana is legal in our state.
There are still numerous ways that marijuana users can face drug crime charges for possession, sale, distribution, and cultivation of marijuana. So let’s look at four of those ways.
1. It’s [...]
If you are a recreational user of marijuana, legalization probably made you stand up and cheer. Finally you could stop hiding and feeling guilty about using marijuana. If you wanted to light up on the street, you could just do it.
Wrong.
With the legalization of recreational marijuana use under Amendment 64, you may be under the impression that marijuana laws are now obsolete in Colorado. This, however, is not the case.
While the recreational use of marijuana is allowed, [...]
Few would argue that the penalties for drug crimes in the US are anything but incredibly harsh. Under current Colorado and federal laws, the punishment for possessing even small amounts of illegal drugs may include prison time, staggering fines, and a lifelong criminal record. It is not uncommon for non-violent drug crimes to be penalized with lifelong prison sentences.
Current penalties are so tough that many advocates are calling for drug law reform, arguing that current laws crowd prisons and [...]
With so few federal laws governing the use of drug tests in the workplace, it is left largely up to state legislatures to regulate employer drug testing matters. While other states have laws restricting how drug tests can be used in places of employment, Colorado has relatively few.
In our state, while there are certain laws that protect the privacy of tested employees, there are virtually no laws that protect workers from being required to take a drug test or [...]
Extradition is about where a criminal case will be handled—not whether the person is guilty. If someone is arrested in Colorado on another state’s warrant, the immediate questions are usually whether to waive extradition, whether bail is available, how long the process may take, and what can actually be challenged before the person is returned.
The same issue can run in the other direction. A person may be arrested in another state because Colorado issued the warrant. In that situation, [...]
A confidential informant almost never speaks to the judge who signs the warrant. Instead, the judge reads a detective’s sworn summary of what an unnamed person allegedly said. That gap can become one of the most important issues in a Denver drug, weapons, theft, or other criminal case.
The defense does not cross-examine the informant when the warrant is issued. At that stage, the focus is on the affidavit itself: what the informant allegedly knew, how police verified the information, [...]
Colorado fentanyl possession charges can become serious felonies at relatively low weight thresholds. The law focuses on the weight of the material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing fentanyl rather than only the amount of pure fentanyl inside it. That means a small-looking quantity of powder or counterfeit pills can result in a much more serious charge once the substance is tested and weighed.
Weight is only part of the case. What the accused person knew, whether the state can prove [...]