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Joint culpability: The effects of medical marijuana laws on crime

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  • Chu, Yu-Wei Luke
  • Townsend, Wilbur

Abstract

Most U.S. states have passed medical marijuana laws. In this paper, we study the effects of these laws on violent and property crime. We first estimate models that control for city fixed effects and flexible city-specific time trends. To supplement this regression analysis, we use the synthetic control method which can relax the parallel trend assumption and better account for heterogeneous policy effects. Both the regression analysis and the synthetic control method suggest no causal effects of medical marijuana laws on violent or property crime at the national level. We also find no strong effects within individual states, except for in California where the medical marijuana law reduced both violent and property crime by 20%.

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  • Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Townsend, Wilbur, 2019. "Joint culpability: The effects of medical marijuana laws on crime," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 502-525.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:159:y:2019:i:c:p:502-525
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.07.003
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    3. Borbely, Daniel & Lenhart, Otto & Norris, Jonathan & Romiti, Agnese, 2022. "Marijuana Legalization and Mental Health," IZA Discussion Papers 15729, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Xiuming Dong & Justin Tyndall, 2024. "The impact of recreational marijuana dispensaries on crime: evidence from a lottery experiment," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1383-1414, April.
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    6. Bibek Adhikari, 2022. "A Guide to Using the Synthetic Control Method to Quantify the Effects of Shocks, Policies, and Shocking Policies," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 67(1), pages 46-63, March.
    7. Cheng, Stephanie F. & De Franco, Gus & Lin, Pengkai, 2023. "Marijuana liberalization and public finance: A capital market perspective on the passage of medical use laws," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1).
    8. Scott Callahan & David M. Bruner & Chris Giguere, 2021. "Smoke and Fears: The Effects of Marijuana Prohibition on Crime," Working Papers 21-12, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    9. Antonios M. Koumpias & Charles Courtemanche & Jordan W. Jones & Daniela Zapata, 2024. "Revisiting the connection between state Medicaid expansions and adult mortality," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 91(1), pages 187-212, July.
    10. Wu, Guangzhen & Wen, Ming & Wilson, Fernando A., 2021. "Impact of recreational marijuana legalization on crime: Evidence from Oregon," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Sabia, Joseph J. & Dave, Dhaval & Alotaibi, Fawaz & Rees, Daniel I., 2024. "The effects of recreational marijuana laws on drug use and crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    12. Anderson, D. Mark & Rees, Daniel I., 2021. "The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana," IZA Discussion Papers 14292, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Johnson, Josiah & Smith, Rhet A., 2023. "Main street business initiatives and crime in small towns," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 91-112.

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