Marijuana Legalization: Assessing the Impact of Local Regulatory Policies

 描述(申请人提供)：华盛顿州和俄勒冈州是最近将娱乐性大麻合法化的仅有的四个州之一，这一法律变化在美国和世界范围内都是前所未有的。关于合法化的潜在正面和负面影响存在争论，但各方一致认为，合法化的某些潜在负面后果应该得到缓解，包括青少年使用、药物依赖和驾驶障碍。为了应对州政府将娱乐用大麻合法化，一些社区正在启动额外的大麻监管政策或税收。目前，没有证据基础来预测这种地方政策行动对于减缓大麻合法化的潜在负面后果的有效性，或这些政策与其他公共卫生和社会后果(如伤害、犯罪、税收)之间的关系。此外，尚不清楚不同的州税收结构如何影响娱乐市场的性质(例如，产品的效力)，进而影响公众健康和合法化的社会结果。拟议研究的目的是：(1)描述地方(市或县)政策的执行情况，以规范医疗和娱乐用大麻(例如，分区条例、税收)以及与零售商密度的关系；(2) 评估娱乐用大麻市场的活动(例如，产品、价格和效力)，以及不同的州税基是否与不同的产品效力有关；以及(3)评估市级或县级的大麻政策(例如，地方分区限制或税收)是否减轻 大麻合法化的主要潜在负面影响(即青少年吸食大麻、驾驶受损、药物依赖、急诊科就诊、住院)，以及这些影响是否与其他公共卫生和社会后果(即成人吸食大麻、逮捕、其他药物使用、教育成果、税收)有关。我们将收集和审查两个州各社区的地方大麻政策，并使用中断时间序列设计来评估地方政策与行为、公共健康和社会结果之间的关联。我们将依赖于与行为监测、健康、安全、治疗和犯罪系统相关的多个成熟的公共卫生监测和其他数据报告机制，这些机制在两个州基本上都很常见。此外，我们将分析来自新的大麻市场的交易层面的数据，以描述社区层面的市场和消费者行为以及收入。这项研究的结果将使政策制定者和其他利益攸关方了解合法化是如何实施的，并为当地政策行动减轻负面影响的有效性提供强有力的证据。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Washington and Oregon are among only four states to have recently legalized recreational marijuana, a legal change unprecedented in the U.S. and worldwide. Debate exists about the potential positive and negative impacts of legalization, but there is agreement that certain potential negative consequences of legalization should be mitigated, including youth use, drug dependency, and impaired driving. In response to state legalization of recreational marijuana, some communities are initiating additional marijuana regulatory policies or taxes. Currently, there is no evidence base to predict the effectiveness of such local policy actions for moderating the potential negative consequences of marijuana legalization, or how these policies are related to other public health and social outcomes (e.g., injuries, crime, tax revenue). Furthermore, it is unclear how different state tax structures may influence properties of the recreational market (e.g., THC potency of products), which could in turn influence public health and social outcomes of legalization. The Aims of the proposed study are to: (1) Describe implementation of local (city or county) policies to regulate medical o recreational marijuana (e.g., zoning ordinances, taxes) and association with retailer density; (2) Assess activities of the recreational marijuana market (e.g., product, price and potency), and whether different state tax bases are associated with different product potency; and (3) Assess whether city or county-level marijuana policies (e.g., local zoning restrictions or taxes) mitigate key potential negative impacts of marijuana legalization (i.e., youth marijuana use, impaired driving, drug dependence, emergency department visits, hospitalizations), and whether they are associated with other public health and social outcomes (i.e., adult marijuana use, arrests, other substance use, educational outcomes, tax revenues). We will collect and review local marijuana policies across communities in both states, and use an interrupted time series design to assess the association between local policies and behavioral, public health and social outcomes. We will rely on multiple established public health surveillance and other data reporting mechanisms associated with behavioral surveillance, health, safety, treatment and crime systems, which are largely common across both states. Additionally, we will analyze transaction-level data from the new marijuana markets to describe community-level market and consumer behaviors as well as revenue. Findings from this study will provide policymakers and other stakeholders with understanding of how legalization is being implemented, and strong evidence about the effectiveness of local policy actions for mitigating negative impacts.