Mar 31, 2014 11:46 AM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Medical marijuana legalization is not associated with an increase in crime, according to a recent study the Huffington Post reported.

Researchers from the University of Texas, Dallas contend that legalizing medical marijuana may reduce some violent crime, including homicide. They suggest that crime rates, particularly certain violent crimes, actually decrease in areas with legal medical marijuana.

"We believe that medical marijuana legalization poses no threat of increased violent crime," Dr. Robert Morris, associate professor of criminology and lead author of the study, told the Huffington Post.

For the study, researchers looked at crime rates for all 50 states between 1990 and 2006 "accounting for a range of socioeconomic factors," such as poverty, employment and education, CBS News reported.

During this period, 11 states legalized medical marijuana for medical use, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Investigators examined the legalization's effect on several violent crimes, including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, auto theft and larceny.  

Researchers found that not a single type of crime increased in the wake of marijuana legalization.

"We found no evidence of increases in any of these crimes for states after legalizing marijuana for medical use," Morris said. "In fact, for some forms of violence -- homicide and assault -- we found partial support for declines after the passing of this legislation."

Morris said that the study did not explore a relationship between marijuana use and violent crime. Rather, it looked at legalization's effect on crime.

"The findings on the relationship between violence and marijuana use are mixed and much of the evidence points toward reductions in violent behavior for those who smoke marijuana," Morris said. "In fact, researchers have suggested that any increase in criminality resulting from marijuana use may be explained by its illegality, rather than from the substance itself."

Morris said researchers plan to conduct more research on the subject since two states have legalized recreational marijuana and several other states have legalized medical marijuana, CBS News reported.

The study was recently published in the journal PLOS One.

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