3 takeaways from Sacramento’s report on the marijuana industry
A recent city of Sacramento commissioned report detailed the impact of Sacramento embracing cannabis after the state allowed municipalities to decide whether to permit dispensaries and other marijuana businesses in their communities. Here are three key points:
Jobs and more jobs
The cannabis industry is the city’s ninth largest employer with nearly 8,000 jobs. More than half of those jobs are in cultivation, positions that did not exist in Sacramento before legalized recreational marijuana was allowed in 2018.
The city has approved 10 new cannabis dispensaries, adding to the existing 30, which will create more jobs. The dispensaries are part of the city’s social equity program, which gives licenses to people affected by the war on drugs, such as those arrested for selling marijuana when it was illegal.
Home values have not been affected -- generally
The report compared house values per square foot for homes within a quarter of a mile and a quarter to a half-mile of production and cultivation facilities from 2015 to 2021. It found that both groups of homes appreciated during the time period, but houses within a quarter mile of a dispensary appreciated on average $40 more per square feet than those in the quarter-mile to half-mile zone
For homes within a quarter of a mile of dispensaries, they appreciated at approximately the same rate as those homes within the quarter-mile to half-mile zone from 2015 to 2020. There was one exception, however. In 2021, homes closest to dispensaries, fetched $13 per square foot less than houses in the half-mile to quarter-mile zone.
Crime has not been a significant issue
The report noted that the large market for illicit cannabis, as well as the tendency of legal marijuana businesses to hold large amounts of cash, may make cannabis businesses attractive targets for robberies and theft. It noted that more than two dozen robberies occurred of licensed cannabis delivery services in Oakland during one week in November 2021.
In Sacramento, the report said that crime at cannabis businesses was not a major problem. It said between 2018 and 2021, there were between 30 and 84 robberies and burglaries per year, which resulted in less than one percent of all robberies and burglaries reported to the Sacramento Police Department.