The difference between illegal and medical use of marijuana
- The project was used in 2009 in Sacramento and aimed to compare two types of crime.
- He was focused on crime associated with free medical marijuana dispensers.
Subject of the study
The routine theory suggests that crime occurs in places with adequate goals, motivated offenders, and inadequate protection. Free dispensaries of medicines that deliver medical marijuana can be a place that meets these conditions, but have not yet been studied.
Methods
A green, cross-sectional project was used in 2009 to explore the spatial relationship between therapeutic marijuana density and two types of crime (violent crimes and property crime) in 95 census units in Sacramento, California. Spatial error regression methods have been used to determine the relationship between crime rates and cannabis dispensaries to control environmental characteristics associated with routine activity.
Results
The rate of violence and the rate of property crime have been positively linked to the number of commercially zoned areas, the percentage of households with only one member and the unemployment rate. Higher crime was associated with intense social disadvantage. The property crime rate was positively associated with the proportion of people aged 15-24 let. The density of free medical dispensaries providing medical marijuana was not associated with levels of violence or property.
Conclusions
In line with previous work, variables that measure routine environmental activities were related to crime. There were no cross-sectional relationships between the density of therapeutic marijuana and the incidence of violent or property crime in this study.
These results suggest that the density of free outlets that provide medical marijuana may not be related to crime rates, or that other factors such as those that give these counseling centers to reduce crime (ie, door shutters, video cameras) may increase protection to discourage potentially motivated offenders.
Source:
"Exploring the Ecological Association Between Crime and Medical Marijuana Dispensaries." Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs