{"id":4036,"date":"2021-03-19T04:20:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T11:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=4036"},"modified":"2021-03-19T10:18:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T17:18:36","slug":"marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana Myths: Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new look at recent cannabis legalization research has found many of the marijuana myths circulated by legalization opponents at the time have not come to pass, including fears about increased crime and car crashes.<\/p>\n<p>Much like the effort to demonize marijuana in the 20th century, much of what people base their opposition to legalization on involves marijuana myths more than marijuana facts. While they stopped short of referring to \u201cReefer Madness,\u201d some of the opposition went far afield from the results of actual scientific research.<\/p>\n<h2>Research Counteracts Marijuana Myths<\/h2>\n<p>Planet Money, the NPR show focused on the world of finance, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/money\/2021\/03\/16\/976265525\/the-data-on-legalizing-weed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote<\/a> about the latest marijuana research. They listed what they considered \u201cinteresting findings.\u201d They include the following.<\/p>\n<h3>Legal Cannabis Does Not Increase Crime<\/h3>\n<p>In states where cannabis became legal, there was not a sudden explosion in crime, either in the neighborhoods where dispensaries opened or in the surrounding city or state. Individual states, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/no-marijuana-related-crime-wave\/\">including Colorado<\/a>, have already reported that they saw no legalization-related crimewave. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/policy-analysis\/effect-state-marijuana-legalizations-2021-update?utm_source=npr_newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=20210311&amp;utm_term=5237211&amp;utm_campaign=money&amp;utm_id=7043805&amp;orgid=305&amp;utm_att1=money\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new study <\/a>from the Cato Institute has found that overall, legalization neither greatly increased or reduced crime.<\/p>\n<h3>Legal Cannabis Does Not Increase Traffic Accidents<\/h3>\n<p>The University of Minnesota <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/legalizing-cannabis-has-not-led-to-more-fatal-car-accidents\/\">released a study in 2020<\/a> that found no association between an increase in fatal traffic accidents, including those involving pedestrians, and the legalization of marijuana. They also found that Washington and Oregon saw a drop in fatal car accidents after medical marijuana became legal.<\/p>\n<h3>Legal Cannabis Has Not Impacted the Price of Cannabis<\/h3>\n<p>Many observers through legalized cannabis would drive the cost of cannabis down, but it\u2019s remained about the same since legalization in most states, according to the Cato Institute.<\/p>\n<h3>Legal Cannabis Has Not Led to More Workers Comp Claims<\/h3>\n<p>A recent study found that workers in states where marijuana is legal filed fewer workers compensation claims, and for lower amounts. Overall, the number of claims from workers aged 40 to 62 fell by about 20% in legal states.<\/p>\n<h2>Two Places Where Legal Cannabis Has Had An Impact<\/h2>\n<p>There are also some areas where cannabis had the impact that was expected, and in a good way. They include the following.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Legal Cannabis Creates Many Jobs. <\/strong>About 321,000 people now work in the cannabis industry, according to a report cited by Planet Money. That\u2019s more people than work in the mining industry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Legal Cannabis Has Boosted State Budgets<\/strong>. The tax revenue from cannabis exceeded expectations. At this point, Colorado collects about $20 million in taxes every month, while California collects about $50 million.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, legal cannabis provides many benefits. And many of the marijuana myths about the potential problems of legalization have not come to pass. That\u2019s an important thing to remember as debate continues around the country about national legalization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent research shows that once scientific studies were conducted, many fears about cannabis legalization appear founded on myth, not fact<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[1030,282,349,866],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recent research shows that once scientific studies were conducted, many fears about cannabis legalization appear founded on myth, not fact\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent research shows that once scientific studies were conducted, many fears about cannabis legalization appear founded on myth, not fact\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dispensaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-19T11:20:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-19T17:18:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/marijuana-myths.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dispensariescom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/\",\"name\":\"Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-19T11:20:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-19T17:18:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\"},\"description\":\"Recent research shows that once scientific studies were conducted, many fears about cannabis legalization appear founded on myth, not fact\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Marijuana Myths: Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dispensaries Editor\"},\"description\":\"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents","description":"Recent research shows that once scientific studies were conducted, many fears about cannabis legalization appear founded on myth, not fact","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents","og_description":"Recent research shows that once scientific studies were conducted, many fears about cannabis legalization appear founded on myth, not fact","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/","og_site_name":"Dispensaries","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","article_published_time":"2021-03-19T11:20:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-19T17:18:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/marijuana-myths.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dispensaries Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dispensariescom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dispensaries Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/","name":"Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-19T11:20:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-19T17:18:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0"},"description":"Recent research shows that once scientific studies were conducted, many fears about cannabis legalization appear founded on myth, not fact","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-myths-cannabis-legalization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Marijuana Myths: Data Shows Cannabis Legalization Did Not Lead to Crime, More Accidents"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/","name":"Dispensaries","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0","name":"Dispensaries Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dispensaries Editor"},"description":"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom"],"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4038,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4036\/revisions\/4038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}