| dc.description.abstract | We examine the effect of medical marijuana laws (MML) on crime treating the introduc-
tion of MML as a quasi-experiment and using three different data sources. First, using
data from the Uniform Crime Reports, we find that violent crimes such as homicides and
robberies decrease in states that border Mexico after MML are introduced. Second, using
Supplementary Homicide Reports' data we show that for homicides the decrease is the
result of a drop in drug-law and juvenile-gang related homicides. Lastly, using STRIDE
data, we show that the introduction of MML in Mexican border states decreases the
amount of cocaine seized, while it increases the price of cocaine. Our results are consis-
tent with the theory that decriminalization of small-scale production and distribution of
marijuana harms Mexican drug traficking organizations, whose revenues are highly re-
liant on marijuana sales. The drop in drug-related crimes suggests that the introduction
of MML in Mexican border states lead to a decrease in their activity in those states. Our
results survive a large variety of robustness checks. Extrapolating from our results, this
indicates that decriminalization of the production and distribution of drugs may lead to
a drop in violence in markets where organized crime is pushed out by licit competition. | nb_NO |
