Crime After Cannabis Legalization in Washington State

1. Crime After Cannabis Legalization in Washington State Dale W. Willits, Ruibin Lu, Mary K. Stohr, David A. Makin, John Snyder, Craig Hemmens, Kathryn DuBois and Nicholas P. Lovrich Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and the Division of Governmental Studies and Services

2. Proponents and Opponents Arguments About Legalization in Washington Proponents Opponents Argued that legalization would increase marijuana use by minors, increase the incidence of drug-impaired driving, and would not yield the benefits in crime reductions suggested (Ellison, 2012). • Claimed that legalization would increase tax revenues, reduce crime and correctional populations (particularly of minorities), focus limited law enforcement resources on serious crimes, increase respect for law enforcement, and provide legal protection for medical marijuana use (Ellison, 2012, New Approach Washington, 2012; Walker, 2011).

3. Crime Rates after Legalization “We're seeing real violence around that (marijuana legalization). Experts are telling me there’s more violence around marijuana than one would think and there’s big money involved” –U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Though crime rates declined or remained static in most of the largest U.S. cities last year, the rate of violent crime per 100,000 people spiked 3.4 percent in Colorado, driven by increase in homicides, rapes, and violent assaults (Denver Post)

4. Crime Rates after Legalization http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/12/colorados_crime_rate_was_declining_until_they_legalized_marijuana.html

5. Crime Rates after Legalization • NOT been associated with increases in crime (NWHIDTA, 2016). • But some claim evidence is mixed on drug offenses, assault, theft, and harassment. • Three years of statewide NIBRS data for 2012 to 2014 indicate that “marijuana offenses” decreased by 37% (from 6,196 incidents in 2012 to 2,316 in 2014) (WASPC, 2014; 2013; 2012).

6. Methods and Data Interrupted Time-Series Modeling Data 1995 to 2015 *Uniform Crime Report Data Compare Washington with States that havenotlegalizedmarijuanaonabroadscale Interruption point 1: November 1998 (Medical marijuana became legal) Interruption point 2: December 2012 (Recreational marijuana became legal) Interruption point 3: July 2014 (Start of recreational sales) • Examine trends of violent and property crimes, as well as disaggregated models that examine trends in rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.

7. Findings • Overall,non-significantchangeforbothseriousviolentandpropertycrimesafterlegalizingeithermedicalorrecreationalmarijuanainWAcomparedStatesthathavenotlegalizedmarijuanause

8. Findings • Importance of Comparison Groups

9. Implications • In general, changes in crime trends for Washington following legalization and sales have not differed from the rest of the country • Generally then: Marijuana legalization has had little effect on serious crime rates • The importance of rigorous research for discussing these trends, noting the ambiguity of the future • For now though, research on criminal justice related outcomes following legalization should focus on other potential consequences