Legal marijuana stores lead to increases in property crime

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/osu-lms042717.php

Public Release: 27-Apr-2017
Legal marijuana stores lead to increases in property crime
Crime hits nearby neighborhoods -- not area around the outlets
Ohio State University

Legal marijuana shops are linked to higher levels of property crime in nearby areas, according to a nearly three-year study in Denver.

Researchers found that crime isn't higher in the area immediately surrounding marijuana outlets. But adjacent areas saw about 84 more property crimes per year than neighborhoods without a nearby marijuana store.

In Denver, no significant increase in violent crime was seen as a result of marijuana sales.

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Putting this risk in context, marijuana outlets led to similar levels of property crime as bars, liquor stores and restaurants that serve alcohol, data from the study suggests. And businesses that sold alcohol led to much more violent crime than marijuana outlets.

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tags: drug use, drug abuse