This book examines the political and social entrepreneurs that champion marijuana decriminalization efforts, their constituents' attitudes toward legalization, the specific successful reform measures at the state level, and the consequent market dynamics in cannabis commerce. Each chapter presents a unique dataset with specific contributions in understanding local and national trends and outcomes of over two decades of cannabis legalization efforts. Using detailed analyses of user data, the contributors tackle social issues like legalization activism in the context of calls to defund the police, the impact of reforms on immigrant communities, the demographic and economic characteristics of legal dispensary customers, medical administrative structures, youth usage, and mortality related to marijuana and other drug use. Combining examples of the interplay of the benefits and costs of decriminalization implementation with an honest discussion of the possible negative aspects of recreational legalization and whom it most harms, this book offers policy makers information for future policy designs with a goal to decrease negative externalities and social inequity.
Nikolay Anguelov is associate professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Jeffrey Moyer is visiting lecturer of public policy at Northeastern University.
Chapter 1: Political Polarization and Cannabis Legalization by Paul Musgrave and Clyde Wilcox Chapter 2: The Cannabis Strain: Marijuana Prohibition in an Age of Police Defunding by Robert Hardaway Chapter 3: Seeing Through the Haze: Using Intersectionality to Reveal Systematic Differences in Support for Marijuana Decriminalization by Geoffrey Whitebread Chapter 4: The Politics of Marijuana, Immigration, and Latinos by Joe R. Tafoya and Melissa R. Michelson Chapter 5: Implementing Social Equity: Opportunities and Challenges from Marijuana Legalization in Massachusetts by Jeffrey Moyer Chapter 6: Bureaucratic Structures and Policy Implementation Challenges in Medical Cannabis by Celine Mavrot Chapter 7: Consumer Well-Being and Cannabis Spending Habits: Evidence from Massachusetts by D. Steven White, Catharine M. Curran, Paul Bacdayan, and Marion McNabb Chapter 8: Exaggerated Panic or Valid Concerns? Post-Legalization Youth Drug Use by Renee Scherlen and Jose Antonio Cisneros-Tirado Chapter 9: Using Administrative and Survey Data to Evaluate the Impact of Changing Marijuana Laws and Policies on Marijuana Use, Treatment Admissions for Marijuana, and Mortality Related to Marijuana and Other Drug Use by Maggie Martin, Rebecca Ivester, Jesse Mishra, Maryam Salihu, Sonja Richard and Ryan Kling Chapter 10: The Unintended Consequences of Marijuana Decriminalization on Illegal Commerce and the Opioid Crisis by Nikolay Anguelov, Michael P. McCarthy and Thalia Valkanos
