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Crime and the Depenalization of Cannabis Possession: Evidence from a Policing Experiment

Rasul, I; Adda, J; McConnell, B; (2014) Crime and the Depenalization of Cannabis Possession: Evidence from a Policing Experiment. Journal of Political Economy , 122 (5) 1130 - 1202. 10.1086/676932. Green open access

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Abstract

We evaluate the impact on crime of a localized policing experiment that depenalized the possession of small quantities of cannabis in the London borough of Lambeth. We find that depenalization policy caused the police to reallocate effort towards non-drug crime. Despite the overall fall in crime attributable to the policy, we find the total welfare of local residents likely fell, as measured by house prices. We shed light on what would be the impacts on crime of a citywide depenalization policy, by developing and calibrating a structural model of the market for cannabis and crime.

Type: Article
Title: Crime and the Depenalization of Cannabis Possession: Evidence from a Policing Experiment
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1086/676932
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/676932
Language: English
Additional information: This is the peer-reviewed version of Crime and the Depenalization of Cannabis Possession: Evidence from a Policing Experiment Jérôme Adda, Brendon McConnell, and Imran Rasul Journal of Political Economy 2014 122:5, 1130-1202. Final text available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/676932
Keywords: cannabis, crime, depenalization, police behavior
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Economics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1454619
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