Posted on 09/15/2019 11:51:37 AM PDT by NobleFree
New research shows crime rates dropped substantially in areas with marijuana dispensaries, running counter to fears that pot shops drum up crime.
The study, published this month in the journal of Regional Science and Urban Economics, analyzed crime data from Denver between January 2013 and December 2016. Colorado, which legalized medical marijuana nearly two decades ago, kicked off sales of recreational pot in 2014.
”The results imply that an additional dispensary in a neighborhood leads to a reduction of 17 crimes per month per 10,000 residents, which corresponds to roughly a 19 percent decline relative to the average crime rate over the sample period,” the study states.
While those findings are highly localized, Illinois State University criminology professor Ralph Weisheit said the results could be “magnified in Illinois.” That’s because the state’s 610-page pot law prioritizes criminal justice and social equity and encourages the hiring of people from “economically-impoverished neighborhoods,” Weisheit said.
“More than any other state, the law is loaded with sections that encourage economic development and employment in areas that have high levels of poverty and a high level of previous marijuana arrests,” he added.
In Denver, researchers found the sharpest decrease in nonviolent crimes, like criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, simple assault and public-order crimes. The study also found a reduction in violent crime that was driven by a drop in aggravated assault, though those findings weren’t statistically significant.
Crime dropping locally appears to be consistent with an increased police or private security presence in or around pot shops. According to David Mok-Lamme, one of the study’s co-authors, private guards tasked with protecting dispensaries’ cash and product might have a “positive impact on crime rates” — but there’s not enough available data to know for sure.
Since the research shows that crime actually decreases “in a meaningful way,” Mok-Lamme said he hopes the study “causes people to rethink those thoughts they may have about where dispensaries choose to open.”
Westchester police chief Steven Stelter, president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said he’s concerned about an overall rise in crime after recreational pot is legalized but doesn’t know whether crime rates will be affected specifically around dispensaries.
“It depends where they put these dispensaries” and whether they attract visitors from elsewhere, Stelter said.
His main concerns include black market cannabis flooding into Illinois as well as increases in traffic crashes and marijuana use among children.
“We’re just gonna have to sit around and wait — and we’ll be able to say I told you so in a few years,” he said.
In Illinois, a growing number of municipalities are moving to ban sales of recreational pot. Naperville’s City Council voted earlier this month to do just that. Weisheit said he isn’t surprised.
“That’s just being cautious,” he said. “But I’m guessing that the mindset will gradually change over time. First of all, as money rolls in. And secondly, as they see that it’s not turned out to be the series of terrible events that they thought might happen with legalization.”
Still, another study, conducted between 2012 and 2015 and published earlier this year in the Justice Quarterly journal, found that crime rates around Denver pot shops initially increased when recreational marijuana was legalized, but it then declined. And the correlation between crime and the shops’ presence weakened significantly over time.
Lorine Hughes, a University of Colorado Denver professor who co-authored the study, said the slightly conflicting results of the studies were likely attributable to their differing methodologies. While Mok-Lamme’s study analyzed individual census tracts, Hughes said her research focused on smaller areas. Her study also looked at a shorter period of time after recreational pot was legalized. She said because crime was very low to begin with in some areas she analyzed, it’s difficult to jump to too many conclusions.
She also said her results likely won’t translate to other cities: “You can’t say because this is what we found in Denver, this is what you’re going to find in Chicago.”
Bruce Barcott, senior editor of the pot news website Leafly, which is owned by a major investor in the pot industry, said his review of other studies, by and large, shows that “crime rates in communities where cannabis stores have opened have been either unaffected or the crime rate generally decreases.”
He said marijuana legalization “frees up cops to do their job.”
“Any time that you can free up police resources from an activity that really is not a crime and is no longer a crime, that’s going to positively affect the police’s ability to do their job across all aspects,” he said.
That’s A Bizzarre response to my comment. Not to mention evasive and deceptive.
No you’re right.
A bottle can be gotten for so cheap that begging out front for 15 minutes will get you a bottle.
And for some reason, and I’ve seen it in the city, people don’t mind giving a few bucks to an alcoholic homeless person.
They figure let the guy enjoy what he enjoys.
Honest, sometimes I would see some dude in his 70s and on his way out and I’d give him a few bucks for a bottle.
It’s not like rehab was gonna happen at that point and that’s what he enjoyed.
Stupid thinking, but i was much younger.
there will be no “COULD HAPPEN” it “WILL HAPPEN” and whole new crime syndicates will be formed all over the country.
Drunken brawls and beatings are a deep-rooted part of our cultural heritage ... or something.
That’s A Bizzarre response to my comment. Not to mention evasive and deceptive.
I was parodying a Reefer Madness brigade dodge regarding the harms of alcohol. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
In a $20 TRILLION economy, it's the creation of legal pot shops that will give enough of a shakedown opportunity to create whole new crime syndicates?!
ROTFLMAO!
When you consider that alcohol consumption predates human society, you are actually right.
CC
Like, duuuh. When pot was illegal and someone purchased it, well, that’d make it, wait for it.... a crime.
Is this fake news? I hate fake news no matter where it comes from. Please cite your sources. I have no dog in the hunt when it comes to pot but I like to be properly informed.
As does utilizing Hemp and Cannabis.
Archaeologists find signs of ritualized cannabis use 2,500 years ago in China.
From the article: “In Denver, researchers found the sharpest decrease in nonviolent crimes, like criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, simple assault and public-order crimes.”
“I do not agree with focusing on “benefits to society” on a pro-Constitution pro-limited-government web forum. “
Are you implying that legalization of meth is a conservative cause?
From your link:
“Colorado transportation and public safety officials, however, say the rising number of pot-related traffic fatalities cannot be definitively linked to legalized marijuana.
“Positive test results reflected in the NHTSA data do not indicate whether a driver was high at the time of the crash since traces of marijuana use from weeks earlier also can appear as a positive result.”
“I’m stating that growing government and ignoring the Constitution to “benefit society” is not a conservative cause. “
You ducked the question!
So crime dropped near pot shots after marijuana was legalized. Am I to believe that crime near pot shops was higher before it was legalized? IOW when pot was a crime more reports were entered than when it wasn’t. You got be high to write stories like this, but then it is a Coloradical story.
Based on the history of criminal activity in the United States over the past 110 years, yes it will.
ROTFLMAO!
Based on the history of criminal activity in the United States over the past 110 years, yes it will.
LOL! Stop, you're killing me!
From the article: “In Denver, researchers found the sharpest decrease in nonviolent crimes, like criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, simple assault and public-order crimes.”
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