Why Do Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Cause Crime?

Medical cannabis has been a topic for debate since the late 1990’s when California became the first state to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes (Sankin 2). Proponents of cannabis tout the plant’s healing properties, while detractors claim that the plant remains a highly dangerous drug. Likewise, public opinion is split as to whether dispensaries are a positive or a negative influence to their communities. Even though opponents claim that medical cannabis dispensaries cause crime, in reality dispensaries bring many benefits to a community. They decrease crime, bring revenue to cities and states and their residents, and provide comfort and support to residents of the community.
Dispensaries decrease the crime rate in cities. Research
Dispensary owners welcome the regulations regarding security systems and “state-of-the-art security systems, including interior and exterior cameras and lighting. The lighting especially acts as a deterrent to crime in the store or in the surrounding neighborhood” (Cooper). Dispensaries increase foot traffic to the area, as patients travel to obtain their medicine. With more people in the area, it makes it harder for illegal diversion, and gangs will have a harder time maintaining power via illegal drug activity. All of that means it will also be harder for foreign drug cartels to smuggle drugs into the U.S. All of that supports a strong and safe community. For example, the city of Los Angeles looked at robberies that took place in the city. As reported by Americans for Safe Access, “[in] 2009, the LAPD received reports of 71 robberies at the more than 350 banks in the city, compared to 47 robberies at medical marijuana facilities which number at least 800 (Castro). The Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Charlie Beck, said that "[banks] are more likely to get robbed than
Obviously, when cannabis is sold through illegal channels, the drug dealers profit, but the cities and states certainly do not. The “legal marijuana business [is] the fastest growing industry in the U.S., showing 74 percent market growth in 2014, to $2.7 billion” (Murphy), and the medical component makes up the majority of those statistics (Cooper). “California [which approved the use of medical cannabis for its patients in the late 1990s] already imposes a sales tax on medical marijuana and receives more than $100 million in annual revenue” (Americans for Safe Access press release). In Maryland, one of the most recent states to legalize medical cannabis dispensaries, licensed medical cannabis establishments will pay their fees every other year: a licensed grower must pay $250,000 and a licensed dispensary must pay $80,000 (Murphy). Since the state of Maryland plans to license approximately 20 growers and a minimum of 94 dispensaries, Maryland expects to generate over $6 million per year in fees alone, and long-term tax revenues will most likely be much higher. If Colorado is any example, Maryland can expect to receive millions of dollars monthly once the medical cannabis program is fully operational