Crime and the legalization of recreational marijuana

Abstract

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The Cross‐border Spillover Effects of Recreational Marijuana Legalization

“…One recent exception is Dragone et al (), which looks at the effects of RML in Washington on violent crimes. They find that rapes and thefts dropped in Washington relative to Oregon after RML took effect.…”

Guidelines for public health and safety metrics to evaluate the potential harms and benefits of cannabis regulation in Canada

“…Non‐medical cannabis legalisation: Significant reductions in violent and property crime in Washington counties bordering Oregon . Mixed findings for retail sales sites, with some evidence of a reduction in violent crime and other evidence of no significant impact in Denver, Colorado.…”

“… detected significantly reduced crime in states bordering Mexico. In terms of non‐medical cannabis legalisation, a recent study examined crime rates in counties along the Washington‐Oregon border before and after legalisation in Washington, and noted significant drops in rape and property crime in Washington‐side counties relative to Oregon‐side counties . Some studies operationalised cannabis retail outlet density as a measure access associated with legalisation and observed reductions or no effect on crime rates in geographical proximity .…”

“…Other studies report reductions in subsets of the data; for example, Chu and Townsend [27] noted that California experienced a significant reduction (by 20%), Morris et al [26] observed a slight but significant reduction in state homicides, and Gavrilova et al [24] detected significantly reduced crime in states bordering Mexico. In terms of non-medical cannabis legalisation, a recent study examined crime rates in counties along the Washington-Oregon border before and after legalisation in Washington, and noted significant drops in rape and property crime in Washingtonside counties relative to Oregon-side counties [28]. Some studies operationalised cannabis retail outlet density as a measure access associated with legalisation and observed reductions [29] or no effect on crime rates in geographical proximity [30,31].…”

“…Medical cannabis legalisation: Significant state-level post-legalisation reductions in overall crash fatalities, particularly among young adults [21,22]. Non-medical cannabis legalisation: Significant reductions in violent and property crime in Washington counties bordering Oregon [28]. Mixed findings for retail sales sites, with some evidence of a reduction in violent crime [29] and other evidence of no significant impact [30] in Denver, Colorado.…”