Marijuana Dispensary Closures Increases Crime

Posted on by

MEDIA ROOTS- It seems relatively obvious– legally buying medical marijuana at a dispensary eliminates the need to deal with street drug dealers, which diminishes the risk factor for crime. However, law enforcement agencies continue to argue that the cash troves on site boost crime by attracting thieves who resell the drugs.

Research from a recent report by the RAND Corporation supports the former– crime rates rose significantly in Los Angeles neighborhoods after hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in the vicinity were forced to shut down.

Via TIME:

Researchers gathered information and crime reports from 600 dispensaries in Los Angeles County, of which 430 were ordered to close by City Council. They then looked at the 10 days prior to when the ordinance took effect (June 7, 2010) and the 10 days after the shutdown. They found a 59% increase in crime within three-tenths of a mile of the closed dispensaries and 24% increase within six-tenths of a mile.

“If medical marijuana dispensaries are causing crime, then there should be a drop in crime when they close,” said Mireille Jacobson, the RAND study’s lead author and senior economist. Researchers went on to explain that open dispensaries probably strengthened the security of the immediate area, if anything, due to their security cameras and guards, as well as an increase in foot traffic and trumping illegal street sales of marijuana.

One of things that piqued my curiosity most about the study is that the RAND Corporation, the company that conducted the research and released the report, is one of the most powerful globalist think tanks in the world. Its members have written extensive policy prescriptions on the militarization of society in a post 9/11 world, and they proudly display a giant mushroom cloud sculpture constructed out of chain links outside of their LA headquarters.

They were also accused of helping pen the tyrannical Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism and Prevention Act of 2007. Why is RAND throwing the public a bone in the ‘War on Drugs’? This study seems to work against their interests in the ubiquitous ‘War on Everything’ they recommend policy for.

Abby Martin

A report released Tuesday by the RAND Corp., a Santa Monica-based think tank, revealed that after hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries were forced to close in Los Angeles last year, crime rates rose significantly in nearby neighborhoods.
Law enforcement agencies have long been after these dispensaries, arguing that the large amounts of cash are a magnet for thieves, who often go on to resell marijuana. Yet, after what investigators are calling “the most rigorous independent examination of its kind” of LA dispensaries, it appears that the city might need to rethink their position.
Researchers gathered information and crime reports from 600 dispensaries in Los Angeles County, of which 430 were ordered to close by City Council. They then looked at the 10 days prior to when the ordinance took effect (June 7, 2010) and the 10 days after the shutdown. They found a 59% increase in crime within three-tenths of a mile of the closed dispensaries and 24% increase within six-tenths of a mile.
“If medical marijuana dispensaries are causing crime, then there should be a drop in crime when they close,” said Mireille Jacobson, the RAND study’s lead author and senior economist. Researchers went on to explain that open dispensaries probably strengthened the security of the immediate area, if anything, due to their security cameras and guards, as well as an increase in foot traffic and trumping illegal street sales of marijuana.
While the Los Angeles Police Department isn’t completely convinced, they also reveal that much of the complaints from neighbors of the dispensaries deal with issues of loitering, double parking and noise, rather than actual crime.

Photo by Flickr user KayVee.INC

Leave a Reply

RELATED NEWS

  • Media Roots Radio: Schrödinger’s Super Patriot – The 2001 Anthrax Mystery Part 1
  • Media Roots Radio: 12 Russians Indicted, Helsinki Putin Panic, Trump’s Reversal
  • Empire Files: Abby Martin Fact Checks Congressman Sabotaging Colombia Peace Deal
  • acTVism Munich: Interview with Abby Martin – Corporate Media, Imperialism & People Power
  • POLITICAL CORRUPTION

  • Empire Files Podcast: Flint’s Killer Cover-Up: Bombshell Report w/ Jordan & Jenn of Status Coup
  • Empire Files: CIA Stories: The CIA is Born
  • Empire Update w/ Abby Martin: Arctic War, Aid to Israel Challenge, Army VR Money Pit
  • Empire Files: A Guide to US Empire in Africa: Neocolonial Order & AFRICOM
  • Media Roots Radio: QAnonEleven, DC Military Lockdown & Trump’s #StopTheSteal Wack Pack w/ gumby4christ
  • Media Roots Radio: Failed State, Martial Law & Trump’s Final Mindfuck
  • Empire Update: Biden’s Scary Foreign Policy Picks: A Blast From War Crimes Past
  • Media Roots Radio: CIA Assassinations, Anticommunism & the Phoenix Program w/ Douglas Valentine
  • Tech Censorship Helps Trump Campaign
  • Media Roots Radio: DNC Republican Pandering, RNC Fascist Reality Show & Bannon Indicted For Fraud
  • Media Roots Radio: CIA Pete, Iowa Caucustrophe, Neocon Monster Limbaugh
  • Media Roots Radio: Epstein’s Mysterious Network & Sexual Blackmail as Intelligence Gathering w/ Whitney Webb
  • Media Roots Radio: Atomic War Crimes, Mainstreaming QAnon, American Mass Shootings
  • Media Roots Radio: War on BDS, Where Every 2020 Candidate Stands on Palestine
  • Media Roots Radio: 2020 Democratic Debate Train Wreck