Date

4-26-2024

Department

Helms School of Government

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice (PhD)

Chair

Douglas A. Orr

Keywords

drug legalization, property crime, drug use and crime, deterrence theory

Abstract

Washington state embarked on an ambitious policy of drug legalization from February of 2021 to July of 2023. Initially arising from the Washington State Supreme Court’s Blake decision and continued through new legislation later in the year, drug legalization had a significant impact on Washington State communities. The lack of criminal sanctions for drug possession eliminated deterrence, increased impairment and cognitive deficits related to drug use, and prevented the use of court-ordered rehabilitative interventions. An understanding of the impacts of drug legalization on American communities is essential and currently understudied. This study set out to assess the effect of drug legalization on property crime in a county in Washington State using the FBI’s four Part II property crimes: burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. A causal-comparative design with a Massachusetts control county was used to ensure localized effects related to the Blake decision. A paired samples t-test was used to determine the one year pre- and post-Blake decision effects for burglary, larceny-theft, and arson, while a Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to assess motor vehicle theft. The Washington county saw statistically significant increases in larceny-theft, motor vehicle, and arson after drug legalization, while burglary had a non-statistically significant large increase. In comparison, the Massachusetts county saw non-statistically significant decreases in larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson, and a very small increase in burglary. These results suggest drug legalization leads to a localized increase in property crime rates.

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