Licensed cannabis businesses stimulate economic growth and are not magnets for crime, according to an analysis commissioned by the city of Sacramento, California.
Researchers assessed the impact of licensed cannabis businesses in the city of Sacramento.
Consistent with prior studies, investigators reported that homes in close proximity to marijuana outlets experienced a greater rise in value than did other residences in the city. Authors also rebuffed the allegation that marijuana retailers were associated with any elevated risk of criminal activity. Between 2018 and 2021, fewer than one percent of all robberies and burglaries reported to the Sacramento Police Department were associated with cannabis business, the report found.
Overall, the cannabis industry is the ninth largest employer in Sacramento, researchers concluded, and it is responsible for nearly 8,000 jobs citywide.
Commenting on the study’s findings, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “These findings ought to mitigate the concerns of local officials who have been reluctant to embrace regulating the cannabis marketplace. Licensed cannabis retailers are good neighbors, drive economic growth, and redirect tax dollars back into the local community. It makes no sense from either an economic perspective or from a public health perspective to prohibit these businesses or to relegate cannabis commerce solely to those operating in the unregulated marketplace.”
Currently, more than half of California’s cities and counties prohibit the operation of licensed cannabis businesses.
According to data compiled in February by Leafly.com and Whitney Economics, the state-licensed cannabis industry added over 100,000 new jobs in 2021 and now employs over 428,000 full-time workers.
Additional information is available from NORML’s fact-sheet, ‘Societal Impacts of Cannabis Dispensaries/Retailers.’
