The Impact of Marijuana Legalization on Drug Crimes in Non-Legal Neighboring Jurisdictions

• In Event: Policing Strategies Across Communities and Contexts

Abstract

State-level marijuana policy is becoming increasingly permissive within the United States as more states legalize recreational and/or medicinal use of the substance. Despite this trend, widespread inconsistencies across states persist. As a result, geographical borders are often the only demarcation separating jurisdictions where the sale and possession of marijuana is legal from neighboring jurisdictions where neither are. This presents an opportunity for residents of non-legal states to travel to legal states where they are able to procure marijuana before returning home, potentially increasing instances of illegal marijuana possession, drug sales, and DUIs, among other drug crimes within those jurisdictions. This could introduce enforcement challenges and place strain on those judicial and correctional systems. Questions emerge regarding law enforcement activity in non-legal jurisdictions that border legal states. Specifically, the current study seeks to assess the effect that legalization has on non-legal neighboring jurisdictions’ rates of drug-related crimes. Furthermore, this effect is hypothesized to be distance-related, with jurisdictions nearest to the legal state experiencing the greatest impact. Utilizing county-level Uniform Crime Report data and GIS mapping techniques, the current study employs a difference-in-differences design to test this. Results are presented and policy implications are discussed.

Authors

• Max Harleman, Georgia College & State University

• Matheson Sanchez, Georgia College & State University

• Aidan Meaker, Georgia College & State University