Cannabis Retailers Drive Economic Growth, Not Crime According To Recent California Study

Oftentimes those who oppose adult-use cannabis argue that its legalization will trigger a rise in crime rates. However, according to a recent analysis commissioned by the city of Sacramento, California, licensed cannabis businesses stimulate economic growth and are not magnets for crime, reported NORML.

“Consistent with prior studies, investigators reported that homes in close proximity to marijuana outlets experienced a greater rise in value than did other residences in the city. Authors also rebuffed the allegation that marijuana retailers were associated with elevated risk of criminal activity,” NORML stated in a press release. “Between 2018 and 2021, fewer than one percent of all robberies and burglaries reported to the Sacramento Police Department were associated with the cannabis business, the report found.”

Contrary to the popular belief of retail cannabis as a potential driver of social unrest and crime, the analyst behind the study found quite the opposite. Cannabis has tangible effects on the local economy by accelerating the process of job creation and, consequently, socio-economic inclusion.

NORML reported that the cannabis industry is the ninth-largest employer in Sacramento. The researchers concluded that the cannabis industry “is responsible for nearly 8,000 jobs citywide.”

Commenting on the study’s findings, NORML’s deputy director Paul Armentano said: “These findings ought to mitigate the concerns of local officials who have been reluctant to embrace regulating the cannabis marketplace. Licensed cannabis retailers are good neighbors, drive economic growth, and redirect tax dollars back into the local community. It makes no sense from either an economic perspective or from a public health perspective to prohibit these businesses or to relegate cannabis commerce solely to those operating in the unregulated marketplace.”

According to data compiled in February by Leafly.com and Whitney Economics, the state-licensed cannabis industry added over 100,000 new jobs in 2021 and now employs over 428,000 full-time workers.

The Positive Effects Of Retail Cannabis On Housing Prices 

Retail cannabis can stimulate an economic revival of urban areas. In 2019, researchers studying the effects of marijuana legalization and retail dispensaries on neighborhood crime in Denver, CO, obtained results that imply that “an additional dispensary in a neighborhood leads to a reduction of 17 crimes per month per 10,000 residents, which corresponds to roughly a 19 percent decline relative to the average crime rate over the sample period.”

In 2020, NORML reported that the enactment of statewide policies regulating adult-use marijuana sales is associated with rising home values, according to data published by a team of University of Oklahoma economists. Investigators assessed the relationship between cannabis legalization and regional home values. They identified “a large positive spillover effect on the housing market following legalization.” “A five percent appreciation in home prices following the passage of RML (recreational marijuana laws) and an 11 percent appreciation once sales of marijuana products begin,” added the researchers. 
“[The] results suggest that preferences for public services – derived from a new source of tax revenue – and dispensaries as a commercial amenity create largely positive effects following the legalization of recreational marijuana,” the authors concluded. 

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash.