“No drugs in my back yard:” The ambivalent reception of cannabis retailers

L. Michelle Bruijn and Rafael Ribas

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2022, vol. 199, issue C, 103-121

Abstract: Can individuals’ aversion to drug markets curb the benefits of decriminalization? We investigate the effect of two policies on housing demand in the Netherlands: the distance-to-school criterion, which closed some cannabis shops in a few cities; and the zero-tolerance policy, which banned shops within municipal jurisdictions. While a small increase in the distance to retailers raised house prices by 1–5%, a substantial increase reduced them by 1–6%. Both policies reduced property crime, but the zero-tolerance was also related to fewer jobs. Our findings reveal that cities benefit from having cannabis shops, but households’ aversion to related nuisances depreciates surrounding areas.

Keywords: Drug policy; Cannabis sales; Disamenity; Housing demand; Job creation; Crime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H43 I12 K23 K42 L83 R21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:199:y:2022:i:c:p:103-121

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.05.005

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