Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/161145 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10522
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We provide first-pass evidence that the legalization of the cannabis market across US states may be inducing a crime drop. Exploiting the recent staggered legalization enacted by the adjacent states of Washington (end of 2012) and Oregon (end of 2014) we find, combining county-level difference-in-differences and spatial regression discontinuity designs, that the legalization of recreational marijuana caused a significant reduction of rapes and thefts on the Washington side of the border in 2013-2014 relative to the Oregon side and relative to the pre-legalization years 2010-2012. We also find evidence that the legalization increased consumption of marijuana and reduced consumption of other drugs and both ordinary and binge alcohol.
Subjects: 
cannabis
recreational marijuana
crime
JEL: 
K23
K42
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
282.52 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.