---
[ 420 FILE ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file)
# Surprise! Closing LA’s Pot Dispensaries will Increase Neighborhood Crime
July 20 2017
Written by Tom Jacobs.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
CRIME STATS--Are you interested in exploring an unfamiliar street, but wondering if it's safe? Well, you can always look around for reassuring signs—such as the presence of a medical marijuana dispensary.
[Newly published research](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119017300281) that analyzed Los Angeles crime statistics finds "an immediate increase in crime around dispensaries ordered to close, relative to those allowed to remain open."
"This increase is specific to the type of crime most plausibly deterred by bystanders, and is correlated by neighborhood walkability," write [Tom Chang](https://www.marshall.usc.edu/personnel/321) of the University of Southern California and [Mireille Jacobson](https://merage.uci.edu/research-faculty/faculty-directory/Mireille-Jacobson.html) of the University of California–Irvine.
In other words, more thriving businesses on a given street means more pedestrian traffic, which, in turn, means less crime. And pot shops perform that role as well as any other establishment.
The study, published in the *Journal of Urban Economics,* took advantage in a change in a city ordinance that led to the forced closing of 417 medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles on June 7th, 2010. Another 180 were allowed to remain open.
Using block-level crime statistics obtained by the **Los Angeles Police Department** and country sheriff's department, the researchers noted the number of incidents in a given neighborhood in the 10 days prior to June 7th, and the 10 days that followed it.
They estimate that, in a one-third-of-a-mile radius around a closed dispensary, "property crimes increase by 12 percent." This spike was "largely driven by increases in larceny and, specifically, theft from vehicles."
Focusing in on the shuttered facility's immediate neighborhood, they found the effect was even more pronounced. "Thefts from vehicles increase by almost 30 percent at one-quarter of a mile, and by 100 percent at one-eighth of a mile around dispensaries ordered to close, relative to those allowed to remain open," they report.
Curious, the researchers conducted a similar analysis of restaurants that were temporarily closed due to health violations, and found very similar results: A 9 to 12 percent increase in property crimes within a one-third-of-a-mile radius. The spike evaporated once the restaurant reopened.
"We can conclude from our research that retail businesses are effective in lowering crime," Johnson said in announcing the results, "even when the retail business is a medical marijuana dispensary."
So fears that such shops will increase neighborhood crime turn out to be not just overblown, but completely wrong. Given that [legal sales of recreational marijuana](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/lists/legal-pot-in-california-everything-we-know-w485079) will begin in California on January 1st, that's very good news.
On the other hand, these findings will likely create cognitive dissonance for our nation's chief crime-fighter, the [marijuana-hating Attorney General Jeff Sessions](https://psmag.com/news/how-jeff-sessions-will-transform-the-department-of-justice). If only there was some way he could relax his mind.
*(Tom Jacobs writes for [Pacific Standard Magazine ](http://psmag.com)…where this report was first posted.)*
*-cw*
[](https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1aJKR8O-8BWOb9uR7p_2UmapNTL6n154B&ll=34.08274658817956%2C-118.34514801441333&z=11) [](https://podbay.fm/podcast/716402907/e/1380917940)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/115 "Brian Goldsmith Vertical R. Col")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/114 "McKinney Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
First Name
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
### [Prosecutor, Democrat, City Attorney? McKinney Makes His Case to Los Angeles Voters](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
ELECTION 2026 - The race for LA City Attorney has been laced with political accusations and allegations that when close…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
### [The LA Watchdog’s 2026 Voter Guide](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
LA WATCHDOG - My recommendations are influenced by the need for truly balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility, long ter…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
### [The Fools’ Blame Game](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
THE VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos do not use elections to plot a wiser course of conduct for Los Angeles, but rather they…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
### [California Film Tax Credits Aren’t Enough. The Guilds Need to Change Too.](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
LONNIE’S VIEW - California used to be the center of the movie and television universe. If you wanted to make movies, yo…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
### [Here’s What Zionism’s Got To Do With It](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
ICAN - The anonymous website “BHUSD Watch” recently published a long, detailed article about the current BHUSD board an…
---
## [ 420 FILE ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/33270-best-dispensaries-in-new-buffalo-in-2026-5-stores-you-should-visit)### [Best Dispensaries in New Buffalo in 2026 \[5 Stores You Should Visit\]](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/33270-best-dispensaries-in-new-buffalo-in-2026-5-stores-you-should-visit)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32869-acapulco-gold-feminized-seeds-complete-growing-guide)### [Acapulco Gold Feminized Seeds: Complete Growing Guide](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32869-acapulco-gold-feminized-seeds-complete-growing-guide)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32813-how-legal-delivery-changed-the-way-cities-buy-cannabis)### [How Legal Delivery Changed the Way Cities Buy Cannabis](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32813-how-legal-delivery-changed-the-way-cities-buy-cannabis)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32560-5-simple-thc-drink-recipes-youll-love)### [5 Simple THC Drink Recipes You’ll Love](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32560-5-simple-thc-drink-recipes-youll-love)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32552-taxing-illegality-city-halls-dangerous-surrender-on-marijuana-enforcement)### [Taxing Illegality: City Hall’s Dangerous Surrender on Marijuana Enforcement](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/spotlight/the-420-file/32552-taxing-illegality-city-halls-dangerous-surrender-on-marijuana-enforcement)