NYPD commissioner blames legal marijuana in Colorado for increase in New York shootings

Bill Bratton, the NYPD Commissioner recently blamed Colorado and Washington's legal marijuana for the rising violence this year in his state of New York. Besides the geographical locations that make this odd statement absurd, its important to note that we're only 8 weeks into this year. The homicide count in NY is currently 54, while last year this time it was 45. It's also important to note the homicide count in 1990 in NY was nearly 200 in the same timeframe. Most importantly though is the 24% drop in homicides in Denver last year as a whole. 

I won’t argue that legalized marijuana is responsible for the 24 percent drop in homicides in Denver last year. There’s not nearly enough data to jump to a conclusion like that. But it’s still a hell of a lot more defensible than arguing that it’s responsible for an increase in homicides in New York.