Did Crime Rates Rise After Colorado Legalized Marijuana?

Authors

  • Abigail D. Pohl Middlebury College
  • Samuel W. Klockenkemper Middlebury College
  • Lucas G. Carpinello Middlebury College
  • Paul M. Sommers Middlebury College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47611/jsr.v5i1.277

Keywords:

Marijuana legalization, regression analysis

Abstract

Using monthly crime reports from Denver’s Police Department between January 2010 and December 2014, the authors endeavor to show if there was a break in the trend line of seven different crimes (homicide, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, larceny, and motor vehicle theft) following Colorado’s legalization of marijuana in late 2012.  After adjusting for seasonal components (some crimes tend to be higher in summer months), the trend lines reveal no break for crimes against persons.  But, three of the four trend lines for crimes against property do reveal a significant decrease after legalization.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Abigail D. Pohl, Middlebury College

Student

Samuel W. Klockenkemper, Middlebury College

Student

Lucas G. Carpinello, Middlebury College

Student

Paul M. Sommers, Middlebury College

Paige-Wright Professor of Economics

Published

04-14-2016

How to Cite

Pohl, A. D., Klockenkemper, S. W., Carpinello, L. G., & Sommers, P. M. (2016). Did Crime Rates Rise After Colorado Legalized Marijuana?. Journal of Student Research, 5(1), 4-7. https://doi.org/10.47611/jsr.v5i1.277

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2016)

Section

Review Articles

Copyright holder(s) granted JSR a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distriute & display this article.