According to a new study that was publishing in the Journal of Urban Economics this month, medical marijuana dispensaries have aided in reducing crime in their immediate areas.
The study was published in the July issue and is titled, “Going to pot? The impact of dispensary closures on crime.”
Researcher Tom Y. Chang from USC Marshall School of Business and Mireille Jacobson from The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine, used the short-term mass closing of hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles in 2010 for the study.
“Contrary to popular wisdom, we found an immediate increase in crime around dispensaries ordered to close relative to those allowed to remain open,” said Jacobson.
Jacobson compared the MMD closings to that of restaurants.
“The connection between restaurants and MMDs is that they both contribute to the ‘walkability score’ of a given area. Areas with higher scores have more ‘eyes upon the street’ a factor that is proven to deter some types of crime,” explained Jacobson.
“Our results demonstrate that the dispensaries were not the crime magnets that they were often described as, but instead reduced crime in their immediate vicinity,” said Jacobson.
The researchers found that when a restaurant reopened, the crime immediately disappeared.
Jacobson added, “We can conclude from our research that retail businesses are effective in lowering crime, even when the retail business is a medical marijuana dispensary.”
