Citation

Pacula RL, Kilmer B. NBER Work. Pap. Ser. 2003; 2003(online): w10046.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, National Bureau of Economic Research)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We examine the relationship between marijuana use and non-drug related crime using data on arrests from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program and Uniform Crime Reports. There is a positive association between self-reported use at the time of the offence and non-drug related violent, property and income-producing crime even after accounting for other substance use in the ADAM data. Reduced form equations using both data sets only provide evidence supporting a causal mechanism for property and income-producing crime. In the case of violent crime, we find a statistically significant association with arrests but not reported crime, suggesting that marijuana use may just influence the likelihood of getting caught committing these crimes.