Dispensary break-ins are down in Denver as marijuana sales decline. Jacqueline Collins Marijuana dispensaries have long been targets of break-ins and burglaries, but local licensing officials believe new, off-hour storage rules have helped temper thievery, and that belief is backed by a new report from the City of Denver titled "The Denver Collaborative Approach: Leading the Way in Municipal Marijuana Management."
According to an annual breakdown of marijuana crime, business licensing and tax revenue, Denver dispensaries reported 98 burglaries or attempted burglaries in 2023, as well as six instances of larceny. That’s down about 38 percent from 162 reported burglary and larceny attempts in 2022.
Because of the products they sell and the large amounts of cash with which they operate, dispensaries are often viewed as easy targets by thieves. In 2020 alone, there were 175 reported burglary attempts at Denver dispensaries, the city’s report notes.
Although dispensaries still deal with theft and building damage from break-in attempts, the Denver Department of Excise & Licenses suggests that storage requirements implemented in 2022 have contributed to the decrease in crime.
Dispensaries are now required to keep at least one safe that is secured to the building and located in a limited-access area to store marijuana products and cash. If stores don’t have a safe, then on-site security guards, strict surveillance and physical barriers "to keep cars from smashing the building" must be added.
The numbers speak for themselves, but cars are still smashing into marijuana buildings. Two different crime rings involving thieves who steal vehicles, use them to break into dispensaries and then sell stolen dispensary goods on Facebook were busted by Denver-area law enforcement late last year.
In an unrelated incident in late January, a car was driven into the front of ACA, a popular dispensary at 1911 South Broadway, in an unsuccessful attempt to break into the store, according to employees.
Less than a month later, thieves drove cars into the Herbal Cure dispensary’s storage bays in an attempt to steal marijuana (the general manager said nothing of value was inside at the time). This came one day after another break-in at the Herbal Cure, […]
Denver Dispensaries Saw 38 Percent Dip in Reported Burglaries Last Year
