Do Citizens Know Whether Their State Has Decriminalized Marijuana? Assessing the Perceptual Component of Deterrence Theory
Do Citizens Know Whether Their State Has Decriminalized Marijuana? Assessing the Perceptual Component of Deterrence Theory
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DOI：
10.2202/1555-5879.1227
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
0.3
通讯作者：
Reuter, Peter
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
MacCoun, Robert;Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo;Reuter, Peter
威慑理论认为，法律遵从性受到预期的法律制裁风险的影响。这意味着法律的改变将导致行为的相应变化，但大麻非刑事化文献只找到了对这一预测的零星支持。但很少有研究直接评估公民对法律制裁的看法的准确性。美国各州对持有大麻的法定处罚各不相同，这为我们提供了一个审视这一问题的机会。使用全国调查数据，我们发现，在已经取消和没有取消这些处罚的两个州，认为自己可能因持有大麻而入狱的比例非常相似。我们的结果有助于澄清为什么统计研究发现大麻合法化对持有大麻的影响的支持不一致。
Deterrence theory proposes that legal compliance is influenced by the anticipated risk of legal sanctions. This implies that changes in law will produce corresponding changes in behavior, but the marijuana decriminalization literature finds only fragmentary support for this prediction. But few studies have directly assessed the accuracy of citizens' perceptions of legal sanctions. The heterogeneity in state statutory penalties for marijuana possession across the United States provides an opportunity to examine this issue. Using national survey data, we find that the percentages who believe they could be jailed for marijuana possession are quite similar in both states that have removed those penalties and those that have not. Our results help to clarify why statistical studies have found inconsistent support for an effect of decriminalization on marijuana possession.