CHAPPELL, Neb. — It’s a Monday afternoon in this town of 943 people, and at the Deuel County Court House, a half dozen or so 20-somethings are sitting in a courtroom. They’re mostly well dressed, some with their parents, others on their own. They’re from Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota and Colorado. And they’re waiting to face a judge on marijuana charges. Call it the overflow effect from Colorado’s legalization of marijuana and opening of retail stores earlier this year. Deuel County is where Interstate 80 meets Interstate 76, the main route east from Denver. The county has two towns and just under 2,000 residents. But the Nebraska Highway Patrol and Deuel County deputies are doing plenty of business stopping young drivers leaving Colorado for traffic infractions. Searches of cars often turn up leftovers from their visit. And, in the case of edibles that include hash oil, those souvenirs often result in a felony charge and a jail stay. Some of those out-of-staters in Deuel County Court say they’re being targeted unfairly, though Sheriff Adam Hayward says that isn’t happening. He says the arrests are costing the county thousands of dollars in jail and legal costs. He has suggested that Colorado cover the costs, but also hopes the Nebraska Legislature increases fines for misdemeanor marijuana violations. But travel across county and even state lines, and courthouses aren’t nearly as packed with offenders heading home from Colorado. One thing perhaps everyone agrees on is that Colorado’s legal pot doesn’t necessarily stay there. “It is one of those things that you cannot keep within your borders,” said Dave Faries, editor and publisher of the Sidney Sun-Telegram in Sidney, Nebraska.

Deuel County Court

Large fans in the back of the Deuel County courtroom whir loudly to cool the air on a July day. All the 13 criminal cases Judge Derek C. Weimer hears that afternoon involve marijuana charges. Weimer calls two young men from Minnesota to the defendants’ table, where they sit next to local defense lawyer Joel Jay. The two were stopped in March driving at 91 mph on I-76. A search of their vehicle turned up products that could be considered hashish, thus potential cause for felony charges. Now, almost four months later, the two each plead guilty to a misdemeanor. They get two days in jail, with credit for the time they’ve served, and $500 fines. They respond to Weimer’s questions politely: “Yes, sir” and “No, sir.” As he pronounces their sentences, Weimer lets them know how fortunate they are to avoid a felony conviction, and offers his opinion on what’s happening in the state to the south. “You’re certainly not the first people who have found themselves in this set of circumstances,” he says. “I couldn’t care less what the citizens of Colorado have chosen to do. Can’t. Care. Less. You have no business taking it out of the state of Colorado. You have no business taking it back to the state of Minnesota.” Next up is a young woman who was stopped while driving from Colorado to Minnesota in early January. Her misdemeanor is being increased to a felony because she had a portion of a pot brownie, which contains hash oil, aka hashish. As she leaves the courtroom with her parents, her mother motions to the only reporter in the room to come along. “This is a travesty, what’s going on here,” the mom says. “This is a total kangaroo court.”

South of the border

Mike Kollartis, owner of Sedgwick Alternative Relief, in Sedgwick, Colorado. Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post / Getty Images Earlier that day, about 20 miles south in Sedgwick, Colorado, an older couple left a modular building on Main Avenue, placed a bag in the back of their SUV with Pennsylvania plates and drove away. They’re typical of the clientele at Sedgwick Alternative Relief, which sells both medical and recreational marijuana, according to budtender Peggy Owens, who is 71. “Our average age is probably 50 to 60,” she said. “Kids don’t come in.” Main is the only paved road in this tiny town of fewer than 200 on Colorado’s eastern plains, two miles west of I-76. There’s a Buddhist temple, a tavern, a bed-and-breakfast and a hair salon. “As a business owner in Sedgwick, I’m all about more revenue,” said Mariah Patton, 24, owner of Small Change Hair Salon. She doesn’t object to the business next door, and notes that the owners of the cannabis business are remodeling an older building on Main as a permanent home. But, Patton added, “I have a lot of Chappell clients, and they’re not happy.” County Sheriff Hayward among them. At 34, he isn’t that much older than the courtroom defendants. He’s been sheriff since 2011 and with the department since 2005. In 2013, there were about 30 felony marijuana cases in Deuel County. “We’re already up to about 30 and we’re only halfway through the year,” Hayward said. “Same thing with our misdemeanors. We’ve seen an increase in those, too.” State troopers make about half the arrests and the rest are made by Hayward’s deputies. Rarely do the stops involve large amounts of marijuana, but it all comes from Colorado, he said. “We’re not out there looking for this stuff, these are just regular traffic stops for a speeding violation,” Hayward said. “The local people around here … they don’t want that stuff here in our community.” Marvin Stone, of Kearney, Nebraska, accompanied his 21-year-old grandson from Denver to court in Chappell on that July Monday. Originally charged with a felony, the young man pleaded guilty to two minor infractions and was fined $400. But Stone said he doesn’t object to what’s happening in Deuel County. “I think they do what they have to do,” said Stone, who is in his early 80s. “We don’t have any inclination to legalize it in Nebraska because we view it as harmful.”

West of the line