Last week, the Washington Post picked up on an article in Police Quarterly that showed clearance rates for property and violent crimes increased in Colorado and Washington following their legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. The clearance rate is the percentage of reported crimes that result in an arrest for those crimes. These data support the notion that Cato and other pro-legalization advocates have been saying for years: if the government ends the drug war, it frees up police resources to solve other crimes and perform other functions more necessary to public well-being than prosecuting drug crimes. Of course, these data are not conclusively causal and different agencies may react differently to legalization in their jurisdictions, but they are a good sign for reform that academics can measure as more states legalize.

On a related note, my colleague Jeff Miron published a piece today examining the budgetary impact of ending drug prohibition. You can find that here.