Cannabis Legalization Associated With Increased Home Values According To Study

Since the dawn of cannabis prohibition, the cannabis plant was demonized along with the people that used it, regardless of what the purpose was for the use. Even suffering patients with a bona fide health condition were ridiculed, subjected to negative stigma, and in some cases arrested because they possessed and/or cultivated cannabis.

Cannabis opponents warned of terrible and imminent dangers that would occur if cannabis were to become legal in any form. Leading up to what would eventually prove to be successful legalization efforts in various parts of the world, cannabis opponents often described doomsday scenarios and warned cannabis supporters to be careful about what they wished for.

Obviously, legalization models are not perfect no matter what part of the world they are found in or at what level of government they were implemented at. However, legalization is an undeniably better public policy compared to prohibition. A recent quantifiable example of that can be found in the results of a recent study in which researchers looked at house pricing data before and after cannabis legalization. Per Marijuana Moment:

Economists at the University of Oklahoma attempted to tease out the impact of adult-use cannabis legalization by examining listings on Zillow.com and tracking them against legalization in Colorado and Washington State. Their findings suggest legalization “has beneficial spillover effects at both the state and local levels,” casting doubt on the parade of horribles sometimes warned of by law enforcement and other critics.

“Concerns about the potential effect on crime rates and the difficulty in policing impaired driving have been cited as reasons to slow-walk the path to full recreational legalization,” the study’s authors write. “This research contributes to the discussion, providing evidence that recreational marijuana legalization (RML) has large positive spillover effects on the local housing market.”

The results of the study demonstrate that the benefits of cannabis legalization go well beyond just the consumer experience and entrepreneur perspective. Higher home values benefit every homeowner in the geographical area involved, whether that homeowner consumes cannabis or not.

Cannabis legalization is good for communities. In addition to increased home values, the local economic boost, job creation, and tax revenue generation, cannabis legalization also frees up law enforcement resources so that cops can focus on fighting real crime, rather than enforcing failed public policy and wasting tax dollars.