Marijuana Legalization Associated With Improved Crime Clearance Rates, Study Finds
PULLMAN, WA The enactment of state laws regulating adult marijuana use is associated with an increase in crime clearance rates, according todatapublished in the journalPolice Quarterly.
Clearance ratesare calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are cleared (charges are filed) by the total number of crimes reported.
Criminologists at Washington State University assessed crime clearance rates in Colorado and Washington in the years immediately prior to and immediately following the enactment of adult use legalization. Theyreportedthat clearance rates were either flat or decreasing prior to legalization, but then improved significantly following the change in law particularly with respect to violent crimes and property crimes.
Authors concluded, [T]he current evidence suggests that legalization produced some demonstrable and persistent benefit in clearance rates, benefits we believe are associated with the marijuana legalization proponents prediction that legalization would positively influence police ...
