Suspecting California.

I just read a news report about an impending legal battle in California over the closing of medicinal marijuana dispensaries. It appears the State is claiming that ‘the situation is spiralling out of control and leading to an increase in crime.’

This strikes me as a bit suspicious. For a start, there’s a big difference between taking marijuana for its undoubted and well proven beneficial qualities, and simply smoking it for recreational purposes. But the bigger point is this:

I don’t claim to be an expert on the physical and psychological effects of marijuana, but I can claim to have some empirical experience on the subject. Twice in my life – for quite long periods – I’ve worked in environments in which the use of cannabis/marijuana was very much a part of the culture. I observed that it had a generally calming effect, making people more relaxed and less prone to angry and/or aggressive behaviour. Indeed, the senior officer in charge of policing one of the big carnivals in Britain once remarked that he ascribed the peaceful nature of the event to the taking of cannabis. So my first question is this:

Does the State of California have genuine evidence of a causal link between marijuana and crime levels, or are they basing their position on circumstantial evidence which is easily manipulated, misinterpreted and meaningless? Are they, perhaps, pandering to bigoted public prejudice on the matter simply to garner support in the battle for power?

And my second question:

There is most certainly a connection between alcohol and many forms of crime, especially violent crime. So will the State of California set the ball rolling by first closing down all the outlets which sell alcohol?