TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Crime and the legalization of recreational marijuana
JO  - Journal of economic behavior and organization
A1  - Dragone, Davide
A1  - Prarolo, Giovanni
A1  - Vanin, Paolo
A1  - Zanella, Giulio
SP  - 488
EP  - 501
VL  - 159
IS  - 
N2  - First-pass evidence is provided that the legalization of the cannabis market across US states is inducing a crime drop. We exploit the staggered legalization of recreational marijuana enacted by the adjacent states of Washington (end of 2012) and Oregon (end of 2014). Combining county-level difference-in-differences and spatial regression discontinuity designs, we find that the policy caused a significant reduction in rapes and property crimes on the Washington side of the border in 2013-2014 relative to the Oregon side and relative to the pre-legalization years 2010-2012. The legalization also increased consumption of marijuana and reduced consumption of other drugs and both ordinary and binge alcohol. Four possible mechanisms are discussed: the direct psychotropic effects of cannabis; substitution away from violence-inducing substances; reallocation of police effort; reduced role of criminals in the marijuana business.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0167-2681
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.02.005
ID  - ref1
ER  -