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- Title
Examining the effects of legalizing marijuana in Colorado and Washington on clearance rates: a quasi-experimental design.
- Authors
Jorgensen, Cody; Harper, Alexis J.
- Abstract
Objective: This study follows the lead of Makin et al. (Police Quarterly 22(1): 31–55, 2019) who found that marijuana legalization is associated with a marginal increase in clearance rates for some crimes but not for others. Methods: We build on their work attempting to replicate their findings by using the synthetic control method and fixed-effects models. A 50-state panel data set was constructed and analyzed. The dependent variables were aggregated violence and property crime rates. The independent variable was dichotomously measured recreational marijuana legislation. Results: Marijuana legalization is not a meaningful avenue of increasing clearance rates. Conclusion: The synthetic control method is useful for aggregate-level crime policy analysis when experimental methods are not available. The argument that the police would do a better job at reducing serious crime and/or arresting serious criminal offenders if they were not preoccupied with marijuana users is unfounded in this analysis.
- Subjects
COLORADO; WASHINGTON (State); MARIJUANA laws; MARIJUANA legalization; OFFENSES against property; CRIME statistics; MARIJUANA; CRIME
- Publication
Journal of Experimental Criminology, 2022, Vol 18, Issue 2, p365
- ISSN
1573-3750
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11292-020-09446-7