University of Texas researchers say that the legalization of medical marijuana cannot be used as an indicator of rise in crime rates.
The legalization of medical marijuana has led to a debate where may argue that it might lead to an increase in crime rates. But University of Texas researchers found that the legalization of medical marijuana cannot be used as an indicator of increased crime rates, it actually may be related to a reductions in certain types of crimes like murder and assault.
"We're cautious about saying, 'Medical marijuana laws definitely reduce homicide.' That's not what we're saying," Dr. Robert Morris, associate professor of criminology and lead author of the study said in a press statement. "The main finding is that we found no increase in crime rates resulting from medical marijuana legalization. In fact, we found some evidence of decreasing rates of some types of violent crime, namely homicide and assault."
The current study was started in 2012 when the controversy was very much in the news Morris Morris gathered information about the crime rates across all 50 states between 1990 and 2006. At that time 11 states legalized marijuana for medical use. Now, 20 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for medical use. Most of the data was collected from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. This included crime rates for homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft.
Researchers noted that rates of none the above mentioned crime types increased in the states where marijuana for medical use was legalized.
"The results are remarkable," Morris said. "It's pretty telling. It will be interesting to see what future studies hold."
Morris and his team also plan on conducting a research to study the relationship between recreational marijuana legalization and crime in Washington and Colorado, where the legalized marijuana marketplace is taking shape.
"This new information, along with continued education of the public on the realities of the negative aspects of smoking marijuana - which there are considerable negative attributes - will make the dialogue between those opposed and in favor of legalization on more of an even playing field," Morris said. "It takes away the subjective comments about the link between marijuana laws and crime so the dialogue can be more in tune with reality."
The study was published in the online journal PLOS ONE. Authors of the research did not report and funding or support from other organizations and institutions.
