Work

Marijuana and Crime: Is there a Connection Beyond Prohibition?

Year: 2003

Type: report

Abstract: We examine the relationship between marijuana use and non-drug related crime using data on arrests from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program and Uniform Crime Reports.There is a positive association between self-reported use at the time of the offence and non-drug related violent, property and income-producing crime even after accounting for other substance use in the ADAM data.Reduced form equations using both data sets only provide evidence supporting a causal mechanism for property and income-producing crime.In the case of violent crime, we find a statistically significant association with arrests but not reported crime, suggesting that marijuana use may just influence the likelihood of getting caught committing these crimes.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w10046

Authors: Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Beau Kilmer

Institutions: University of Southern California, RAND Corporation, National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard University

Language: English

Topic: Crime Patterns and Interventions

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W1517367207

Cites: 23

Cited by: 41

Related to: 10