2014 Jun 5;115C:29-37. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.003. [Epub ahead of print]
Cannabis depenalisation, drug consumption and crime – Evidence from the 2004cannabis declassification in the UK.
Braakmann N1, Jones S2.
Abstract
This paper investigates the link between cannabis depenalisation and crime using individual-level panel data for England and Wales from 2003 to 2006. We exploit the declassification of cannabis in the UK in 2004 as a natural experiment. Specifically, we use the fact that the declassification changed expected punishments differently in various age groups due to thresholds in British criminal law and employ a difference-in-differences type design using data from the longitudinal version of the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey. Our findings suggest essentially no increases in either cannabis consumption, consumption of other drugs, crime and other forms of risky behaviour.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Anti-social behaviour; Cannabis; Crime; England; Gateway theory; Risky lifestyle; Wales
- PMID:
- 24937326
- [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
