Crime and the depenalisation of cannabis possession: Evidence from a policing experiment
The authors evaluated the impact on crime of a localized policing experiment that depenalized the possession of small quantities of cannabis in the London borough of Lambeth.
Such a policy can:
- impact the demand for cannabis in Lambeth as users move there to purchase cannabis;
- enable the Lambeth police to reallocate effort towards other types of crime.
The authors investigated whether the depenalization policy impacts the level and composition of crime, using administrative records on criminal offences by drug type, and for seven types of nondrug crime. They found that depenalization in Lambeth led to significant increases in cannabis possession offences that persisted well after the policy experiment ended. They found evidence that the policy caused the police to reallocate effort towards crimes related to the supply of Class-A drugs, as well as reallocating effort towards non-drug crime: there are significant reductions in five types of non-drug crime, and significant improvements in police effectiveness against such crimes as measured by arrest and clear-up rates.
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