Legalizing recreational marijuana has had minimal effect on violent or property crime rates in Washington and Colorado, a WSU study funded by the National Institute of Justice has found.
Willits
“As the nationwide debate about legalization, the federal classification of cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, and the consequences of legalization for crime continues, it is essential to center that discussion on studies that use contextualized and robust research designs with as few limitations as possible,” Dale W. Willits, an assistant professor of criminal justice and criminology at WSU and a study co-author, told the Crime & Justice Research Alliance. “This is but one study and legalization of marijuana is still relatively new, but by replicating our findings, policymakers can answer the question of how legalization affects crime.”
Previous studies have reported mixed and inconclusive results. But the new research,published today in the journal Justice Quarterly, uses what are described as more rigorous methods in the evaluation of monthly crime rates as compiled in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports from 1999 to 2016.
The researchers focused on Washington and Colorado,the first two states in the nation to legalize the growing, processing and commercial sale of cannabis for recreational use, and compared monthly crime rates to those in 21 states where recreational and medicinal marijuana use remains illegal.
The study found no statistically significantlong-term effects of recreational cannabis laws, or the initiation of legal retail sales, on violent or property crime rates in either state, though Washington saw a decline in burglary rates. The findings suggest legalization and sales of marijuana have had minimal effect on major crimes in both states.
At the very bottom of the human spine is a bone that sticks out a bit called the coccyx (cox-ix). We sometimes call it the “tailbone,” but it is actually made up of several different spinal bones.
In some animals that actually have tails, those different bones at the bottom of the spine help them move their tail around. But in humans, those bones partially fused together.
You may already know a thing or two about the tailbone if you’ve ever hit a big bump while sledding or you’ve fallen on your behind. It can be pretty painful. You might have even thought that a tailbone seems kind of useless for a human that doesn’t even have a tail.
I decided to ask my friend Erika Deinert about these bones in the human body. She’s a tropical biologist and adjunct professor in biological sciences at Washington State University Vancouver.
Even though your parents and grandparents didn’t have tails, if we went back in time and looked at ancestor species that we have in common with other primates, we would see some tails, Deinert explained.
Cyanobacteria blooms, organisms that interact with them targeted in study with larger purpose
Katie Sweeney takes a water sample from Vancouver Lake.
During a downpour in mid-September, Katie Sweeney, outfitted in rain pants, boots and a raincoat, knelt down on a dock at the Vancouver Lake Sailing Club and started collecting water samples.
Since May, Sweeney has made this a biweekly routine as part of her graduate studies at Washington State University Vancouver while she pursues a master’s degree in environmental science. Sweeney focuses on smaller organisms in Vancouver Lake, and their interactions with cyanobacteria blooms.
It just so happens that cyanobacteria blooms have been present at and closed Vancouver Lake this year, so the public also has an interest in the same things she does.
“We always have an interest in these sort of things scientifically, but it’s always really when cool when the public starts to take notice, and become interested in the science behind it,” Sweeney said. “It’s enlightening or endearing that somebody outside is interested in what you do.”
A report by scientists with Washington State University’s State of Washington Water Research Center could help inform decision makers and planners in watersheds across the state, as they develop projects that balance growth with the needs of threatened salmon and steelhead.
Mandated by a recently passed law addressing the effects of small rural wells on stream flows and fish, a WSU-led team of experts from around the state worked for more than a year alongside Washington’s Department of Ecology to develop technical guidance for watershed planners in 15 of Washington’s 62 Water Resource Inventory Areas, or WRIAs.
Katz
“We’ve tried to open up the assessment toolbox, to place management decisions in a more contemporary, comprehensive scientific framework,” said Stephen Katz, project lead and associate professor at WSU’s School of the Environment. “Our guidance highlights available approaches that can benefit endangered species and their habitat, as well as Washingtonians’ increasing need for high-quality water.”
The team’s final report, titled “Technical Supplement: Determining Net Ecological Benefit,” is included in the Department of Ecology’s “Final Guidance for Determining Net Ecological Benefit,” published in July. The document provides a framework for watershed planners to develop proposals that offset the effects of rural wells on stream flows, and for state ecologists to gauge the merits of those proposals.
Microscopic flecks of DNA — from insects, amoebas and mushrooms — could help tell the story of a forest trying to regrow to its former might.
Forest forensics, part of a fast-growing field called environmental DNA, will tell researchers what’s living in a particular space, which, in turn, tells forest managers if what they’re doing is working there.
Strickler
Environmental DNA, a monitoring technique developed about a decade ago, is growing “exponentially” in use, said Katherine Strickler, a research scientist and instructor in the School for the Environment at Washington State University.
Such analyses can identify hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures who left pieces of themselves behind in the soil in roughly a week’s time. They allow scientists to catalog entire communities, or the richness of life in a given spot.
