Allison Whiting

Ms. Hunter

English 1201

10 February 2019

Annotated Bibliography

“Legal Pot Increases Crime, Grows the Black Market.” ​Arizona Capitol Times​, 2016.

EBSCOhost​,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.467017316&site=eds-live​. Accessed 3 February 2019.

https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2016/10/13/legal-pot-increases-crime-grows-the-black-

market/​.

This article was written by Jim Gerhardt, an Arizona citizen and works in a unit that

specifically targets drug trafficking organizations. He writes in the ​Arizona Capitol Times ​that

legalizing marijuana did not end the black market or even slow its growth. The legalization of it

Colorado just gave marijuana and the illegal drug cartel a place to thrive, allowing more crime.

The author's purpose for this article is to persuade and inform. The author tries to

persuade people that legalizing marijuana caused unwanted crime. He informs people of the

consequences that Colorado is facing because of their legalizations. The intended audience for

this article are the citizens of Arizona. He tries to warn them to vote against the legalization of

marijuana. The piece was written in 2016, and since then many states besides Colorado have

legalized weed, which may have changed the author's mind since he wrote this article.

This article was published on EBSCOhost, and the source is the ​Arizona Capitol Times.
The writer is Jim Gerhardt and he gains his credibility by stating that he works in a unit that

specifically targets drug trafficking organizations.

I plan to implement this source into my research paper by using it to show people with

drug trafficking knowledge and other US citizens opinion on how marijuana legalization affects

the amount of crime in different states.

“Medical Marijuana’s Legalization Doesn’t Raise Crime Rates: Study; Nationwide Data Helps

Inform Debate as Restrictions on Pot Use Continue to Ease, Researchers Say.” ​Consumer

Health News (English)​, 2014. ​EBSCOhost​,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.362907216&site=eds-live​. ​Accessed 3 February 2019.

https://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/behavior-health-news-56/

medical-marijuana-s-legalization-doesn-t-raise-crime-rates-study-686131.html​.

This article is written by Robert Preidt, an author of ​HealthDayNews. I​ n this article, it is

discussed that legalized marijuana is tied to lower crimes like assult and murder. In 2014, The

University of Texas in Dallas did a study on the connection between crime rates and states that

have legalized marijuana. The researches analyzed data from all 50 states from the year 1990 to

2006. In that time span, there were eleven states that had legalized medicinal marijuana:

Washington, Vermont, Rhode Island, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Maine, Hawaii, Colorado,

California, and Alaska. Their findings were that there was no increase in crime in the states that

had legalized medical marijuana. The researchers came to the conclusion that there was no

increase, but in certain states, there was a decrease in some violent crime such as homicide and
assault.

The author's purpose in this article is to inform. There is no opinion in the article, he

simply states the research results from the University of Texas. The intended audience is people

of all ages interested in the topic. This article was written in 2014, but the date does not affect

what is said in the source considering it is just summarizing a study.

This article was published on EBSCOhost, and the source is ​HealthDayNews. ​The writer

of the piece is Robert Preidt, an author of ​HealthDayNews. ​He doesn’t have any special

credibility, but he does state that he found all of his information from The University of Texas at

Dallas news release. Preidt has also written many other articles for the ​HealthDayNews

company.

I plan to use this article in my research paper as one piece of evidence that found

marijuana does not increase crime rates. I plan to also find an article that shows legalized

marijuana does increase crime rates in some instances.

“Medical Marijuana Has Lowered Crime, Study Finds.” ​International Business Times - US Ed​,

2018. ​EBSCOhost,​

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.523104609&site=eds-live​. Accessed 3 February 2019.

https://www.ibtimes.com/medical-marijuana-laws-have-lowered-crime-rate-many-states-

study-finds-2641633​.

This article was written by Megha L, an author of ​International Business Times. ​In this

article, it is discussed how a recent study found that the legalization of medicinal marijuana has
lowered the rate of crime in some states. A team of economists did a study titled​ “Is Legal Pot

Crippling Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations? The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on

US Crime,”​ and their results were shocking. They found that in the states along the Mexican

border that have legalized the medical use of weed, violent crime has dropped an average of

13%. The research showed marijuana laws were the most effective in California crime with a

15% reduction in violence. The least impacted state in the study was Arizona with just a 7%

drop, but that is still a good amount of decreased crime. Also, in those same states, the amount of

robbery dropped by 19%, and murder fell by 10%. This study even found that homicides that are

not related to drug trafficking dropped by a whopping 41%. As a whole, the article stresses that it

is better to regulate marijuana and allow citizens to pay taxes on it rather than make it legal when

the crime rates are so significant.

The author's purpose in this article is to inform and persuade. It informs people of the

statistics of the dropping crime rates due to legalizing marijuana but also persuades people to

vote to legalize it in more states because it is so effective. The intended audience is anyone

interested in the topic and people willing to vote to change the law in other states. This article

was written in January 2018, which is fairly recent and doesn’t have an effect on the findings of

the study that was performed.

This article was published on EBSCOhost, and the source is ​International Business

Times. ​The writer of the piece is Megha L, an author of ​International Business Times. ​She

doesn’t have any special credibility, but she does state that he found all of his information from

The Economic Journal​. Megha L has also written many other articles for ​International Business

Times​.
 I plan to use this article to answer my main research question, “How does the legalization

of medical marijuana affect crime rates?” I will use the evidence found in the study to show that

the legalization does in fact, lower crime rates.

“Physicians Present Case for Legalizing Marijuana.” ​The Brown University Child &

Adolescent Psychopharmacology Update​, vol. 20, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1–2.,

doi:10.1002/cpu.30266. Accessed 3 February 2019.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cpu.30266​.

This article is written by David L. Nathan, H. Westley Clark, and Jocelyn Elders. All

three authors have a medical degree. In the article, the three scholars state that it is time for

federal law to change and legalize marijuana for good. As of December 2017 when the article

was published, 29 states had made weed legal for medicinal uses and 8 states made it legal for

any kind of use. They state that more than 60% of Americans favor marijuana legalization. The

article talks about how weed prohibition has done more damage to public health than marijuana

itself. This means that weed being illegal has been more harmful to people than weed being legal

and used. They say that during alcohol prohibition, alcohol consumption decreased. But

marijuana use has increased during prohibition.

The author's purpose in writing this article is to inform and persuade. The three doctors

want to let people know that it is important for all states to legalize weed in order to stay healthy

as a society and persuade them to feel the same way. The intended audience is people who might

not think marijuana should be legalized and the doctors are looking to change their minds. The

article was written in December 2017, which would not affect the authors’ stance on the subject
if it were written at a different time.

This article was published on the Wiley Online Library, and the source is the ​American

​ he authors, David L. Nathan, H. Westley Clark, and Jocelyn Elders,

Journal of Public Health. T

all gain their credibility by stating that all three of them have medical degrees.

I plan to use that article to show a different point of view on the subject. These

observations and opinions are coming from scholars with medical degrees. It shows that not just

potheads want marijuana legalized, doctors see it being beneficial as well.

“Positive Policing Changes after Cannabis Legalization Seen by WSU Researchers | WSU

Insider | Washington State University.” ​WSU Insider,​ 24 July 2018,

news.wsu.edu/2018/07/24/positive-policing-changes-after-cannabis-legalization/.

Accessed 10 February 2019.

https://news.wsu.edu/2018/07/24/positive-policing-changes-after-cannabis-legalization/

This article was written by Pullman, an author from Washington State University in July

2018. In this article, it discusses how David Makin, assistant professor in WSU’s Department of

Criminal Justice and Criminology, views the topic of marijuana and crime. Makin completed a

study finding that after legalization in a state, a series of things happen. Arrest rates for

possession of marijuana drop a considerable amount. After legalization in 2012, the rates

dropped nearly 50% in Colorado and over 50% in Washington. Also, the study found that violent

crime clearance rates shifted upwards, and motor vehicle theft and robbery rates increased,

contradicting what other sources and studies have found.

 The author's purpose in this article is to inform. The author shares the findings of

assistant professor David Makin to let people know how legalizing marijuana is affecting our

society as a whole. The intended audience of this article is most likely students in college,

considering he is a professor. But also anyone who is curious about the topic or looking for

information.

This article was published on the Washington State University Website, and the source is

WSU Insider. ​The writer of this article is Pullman, an author from Washington State University.

It was written in July of 2018, so very recent. The author is credible because he is an author for a

college website, and he is writing about an assistant professor. The source is reliable because it is

an .edu website and written by scholars.

I plan to use the information from this website in my research paper by showing more of

the many different research findings on this topic. This specific study found that marijuana

increases crime, which contradicts other studies.

“UCI Marijuana Study Finds Increased Crime Rates Following L.A. Pot Dispensary Closures.”

Daily Pilot (Costa Mesa, CA)​, 2017. ​EBSCOhost​,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.498546023&site=eds-live​. Accessed 3 February 2019.

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-marijuana-study-20170714-st

ory.html

This article was written by Bradley Zint, and author from the ​Los Angeles Times.​ This

article discusses a new study performed by ​UCI's Mireille Jacobson and USC professor Tom Y.
Chang ​concerning legalized marijuana and reduced crime rates. In their study, they found that

near Los Angeles dispensaries, there are immediate crime increases. They say particularly

property crime and theft robbery.

The author’s purpose in writing the article is to inform people about the study

performed by ​UCI's Mireille Jacobson and USC professor Tom Y. Chang ​concerning legalized

marijuana and reduced crime rates. The intended audience for this article is anyone interested in

the topic of marijuana or people that live in Los Angeles and want to know how marijuana is

affecting their city.

This article was published on EBSCOhost, and the source is the ​Los Angeles Times. ​The

​ e doesn’t have any

writer of the piece is Bradley Zint, an author of the ​Los Angeles Times. H

special credibility, but he does state that he found all of his information from the study

performed by ​UCI's Mireille Jacobson and USC professor Tom Y. Chang​. Zint has also written

many other articles for the ​Los Angeles Times​.

I plan to use this information in my article by showing that many of my sources are

showing that marijuana raises crime rates. It will help me to write a counterclaim to the other

sources that provide the same data, but a different outcome.

“The Effect Of Legalizing Retail Marijuana On Housing Values: Evidence From Colorado.”

Cheng, Cheng, et al. ​Economic Inquiry,​ vol. 56, no. 3, 2018, pp. 1585–1601.,

doi:10.1111/ecin.12556. Accessed 3 February 2019.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecin.12556

This article was written by Cheng Cheng, Walter J. Mayer, and Yanling Mayer. This
article summarizes why the housing prices in Colorado are increasing. Their explanation is

basically that since Colorado was one of the few states that had marijuana legalized, everyone

who was in favor of the new law wanted to move to where it was legal. So homeowners took

advantage of this and began to raise the price of homes due to supply and demand. The three

authors gather the information that every state that legalizes has about a 6% increase in housing

values. This really just shows how marijuana being legalized has effects on more than just crime,

it affects many other aspects of life, too.

This article was written to inform and persuade the audience. It shares evidence in which

people will learn things from and hopefully make changes. The intended audience for this article

is specifically targeted to Colorado citizens. But also people curious as to how marijuana

legalization is changing the lives of people in so many different ways. It is written to

warn/inform people about rising costs in housing in Colorado due to it being one of the few

states with marijuana legalized.

The authors of this article are Cheng Cheng, Walter J. Mayer, and Yanling Mayer. The

source is the Wiley Online Library, so it is a credible source. I plan to use this source to show

that not only does marijuana cause crime to increase, it also causes housing values to increase. I

will use this to show that, marijuana is changing the lives of many people in so many different

ways, not just crime.