Due in large part to the legacy of the failed “War on Drugs,” cannabis use is often associated with crime. But emerging evidence is making a strong case that cannabis legalization is not associated with increased crime rates. In some cases, it may be the reason why crime rates go down.

A cannabis dispensary in the neighborhood leading to decreased property values is a common concern among policymakers and their constituents. However, emerging research shows that commercial and residential property values actually increase in neighborhoods near medical and/or adult-use cannabis retailers. These property value increases are likely the result of heightened demand due to new business and employment opportunities from the emerging industry, as well as cannabis tax revenue funding public services and infrastructure in a community.

Legalization opponents often refer to cannabis as a “gateway drug” that increases the likelihood an individual will use harder substances, such as cocaine or heroin. This theory is baseless. 

The Institute of Medicine found that cannabis use does not appear to cause, or be the most significant predictor of, serious drug abuse. Similarly, RAND’s Drug Policy Research Center suggests “it is not marijuana use but individuals’ opportunities and unique propensities to use drugs that determine their risk of initiating hard drugs.”

A key fallacy in the gateway theory is the conflation of correlation and causation. It is true that almost all individuals who have used hard drugs have used cannabis at some point, but that does not imply that cannabis is the cause of hard drug usage. Another key issue with older studies that conclude cannabis is a gateway drug is that they were observational studies that failed to consider outside factors that contribute to cannabis use. Many of these studies did not take into account other behaviors the subject engaged in (alcohol, cigarettes, etc.) or the risk-taking personality that a cannabis user would need to have in the era before decriminalization.

Cannabis prohibition itself also contributes to the plant’s association with harder drugs. Purchasing cannabis through illicit channels necessitates interaction with dealers who may have access to additional drugs. As the Netherlands began to liberalize cannabis laws in the 1970s, they paid close attention to the supposed “gateway effect.” Believing the link to be sociological, the Dutch developed a regulatory system to separate the legal and illicit market by keeping cannabis users away from hard drug dealers. Data compiled from the experiment suggests this approach weakened social interaction with dealers of harder drugs and demonstrated that no gateway effect resulted from legalization efforts.