Closing medical marijuana dispensaries raises crime, says (RAND Corp) report

[Bozita]

Source: Grand Rapids Press

Closing medical marijuana dispensaries raises crime, says report
Published: Monday, September 26, 2011, 11:30 AM Updated: Monday, September 26, 2011, 11:56 AM
By Shandra Martinez | The Grand Rapids Press


Medical marijuana dispensaries around the state shut their doors last month after a three-judge panel of the Michigan Courts of Appeal ruled they were not only a “public nuisance,” but illegal under the 2008 citizen-initiated law that doesn’t allow for the sale of the drug.

But the closing of these businesses may do more harm than good, according to new research by California think tank.

The recent report by Santa Monica-based RAND Corp studied the issue in Southern California, where dispensaries were almost as common as convenience stores. It found that when hundreds of those medical marijuana dispensaries were forced to close in Los Angeles last year, crime rates rose 59 percent in nearby neighborhoods.

That flies in the face of what law enforcement agencies have long argued: dispensaries are magnets for thieves because of the large amounts of cash and marijuana that flow through the businesses.


Read more: http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/09/closing_medical_marijuana_disp.html

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Law enforcement agencies are addicted to those drug forfeiture laws.

Period.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked, recommended and I agree, too many law enforcement agencies are addicted.

Thanks for the thread, Bozita.

[RainDog]

2. here's another thread from a few days ago that indicates de facto legalization works for society

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1996794

The arguments of the drug warriors fall apart when the reefer madness propaganda is overwhelmed by data.

[Bozita]

3. If someone could tell me why this thread was bounced here from LBN, I'd appreciate it.

I'm honestly clueless on this.