{"id":1912,"date":"2017-07-24T07:00:27","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=1912"},"modified":"2017-07-28T04:04:11","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T11:04:11","slug":"marijuana-dispensaries-safer-neighborhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-dispensaries-safer-neighborhoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Marijuana Dispensaries Lead to Safer Neighborhoods?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A lingering concern about legal marijuana sales, at least among some people, is that it leads to higher crime in the places where it is sold.<\/p>\n<p>Turns out that is not the case. Research on actual crime statistics shows just the opposite.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the conclusion of a University of California-Irvine (UCI) study into crime rates in areas where marijuana dispensaries were closed. Rather than create crime, dispensaries actually led to lower crime rates in the neighborhoods where they operate.<\/p>\n<p>Two researchers, UCI professor Mireille Jacobson and University of Southern California\u00a0professor Tom Y. Chang, worked on the study.<\/p>\n<p>Jacobson <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/socal\/daily-pilot\/news\/tn-dpt-me-marijuana-study-20170714-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> the study should go a long way to dispelling the idea that <a href=\"http:\/\/news.dispensaries.com\/category\/legalization\/\">legalized marijuana sales<\/a> lead to more crime. She added that local jurisdictions \u201care just going to have to get over that fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Marijuana Dispensaries and Property Crime Reduction<\/h2>\n<p>So just how does legal marijuana sales lead to a lower crime rate? The UCI study examined crime statistics from 2010 to get to the bottom of the issue.<\/p>\n<p>The two researchers looked at 597 dispensaries in the city of Los Angeles. All sold medical marijuana \u2013 adult-use sales will not begin in California until 2018. On June 7, 2010, about 70 percent of them were forced to close by local officials. At the time, some blamed a rise in crime rates on dispensaries.<\/p>\n<p>But research showed just the opposite. Specifically, they found the following when looking at property crimes in those areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A 12 percent to 14 percent increase in property crime within a third of a mile from the closed dispensaries<\/li>\n<li>A 14 percent to 16 percent increase in crime within a fourth of a mile<\/li>\n<li>A 23 percent to 24 percent increase in crime within an eighth of a mile<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Jacobson <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannifornian.com\/cannabis-health\/research-studies\/marijuana-dispensaries-not-magnets-crime-study-says-heres\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">admitted<\/a> the pattern that emerged from the research \u201cwas not the result we expected.\u201d She said the research clearly showed that dispensaries are not magnets for criminals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf these dispensaries truly were crime magnets, we\u2019d expect to see a sharp decrease in crime when they shut down,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n<h3>A Simple Explanation<\/h3>\n<p>So are marijuana dispensaries some type of special business that wards off criminals? No. Instead, they are <em>just like<\/em> any other business.<\/p>\n<p>To demonstrate this, the two researchers on the UCI study also looked at the impact on crime in a neighborhood when restaurants closed. They found similar increases in crime.<\/p>\n<p>They concluded that closing a medical marijuana dispensary is just like closing any other business in a neighborhood. It results in less pedestrian traffic and fewer people on the street, which makes it easier to commit property crimes such as breaking and entering and car theft.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the study found that surveillance cameras and security personnel at the doors of a dispensary also contribute to a safer environment.<\/p>\n<p>It all seems like common sense. But given that some still equate crime with marijuana, it\u2019s common sense that some apparently still need to hear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A surprising result from the University of California Irvine around whether marijuana dispensaries lead to safer neighborhoods. Learn more now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[50,38,79,34,47],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do Marijuana Dispensaries Lead to Safer Neighborhoods?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A surprising result from the University of California Irvine around whether marijuana dispensaries lead to safer neighborhoods. 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