Developing Methods for Assessing Outcomes of Law and Policy on Drug Trafficking Offenders, Organizations, and Criminal Justice Responses, United States, 2000-2018 (ICPSR 38441)
This project sought to gather and analyze data on the effects of marijuana legalization from primary and secondary data sources that are both local and national in scope, and at both the individual and aggregate level. Since 1996, 37 states have passed statutes legalizing marijuana for medical and/or recreational use, while it has remained illegal under federal law. Jurisdictional and temporal variation in law creates a complex environment and substantial challenges for police and prosecutors charged with enforcement, and little is known about the justice system processing, public safety, and public health outcomes of evolving laws and policies.
Secondary criminal justice and public health data were gathered from federal, state, and local sources. Each source has a sufficiently long time series to provide statistical power and to allow for sometimes gradual implementation. The design exploits geographic and temporal variation in the implementation of marijuana law, using a difference-in-differences design that compares outcomes in states which implemented the policies with states that did not, before and after implementation.
Effects of Marijuana Legalization on Law Enforcement and Crime, Washington, 2004-2018 (ICPSR 37661)
This study sought to examine the effects of cannabis legalization on crime and law enforcement in Washington State. In 2012 citizens voted to legalize possession of small amounts of cannabis, with the first licensed retail outlets opening on July 1, 2014. Researchers crafted their analysis around two questions. First, how are law enforcement agencies handling crime and offenders, particularly involving marijuana, before and after legalization? Second, what are the effects of marijuana legalization on crime, crime clearance, and other policing activities statewide, as well as in urban, rural, tribal, and border areas?
Research participants and crime data were collected from 14 police organizations across Washington, as well as Idaho police organizations situated by the Washington-Idaho border where marijuana possession is illegal. Additional subjects were recruited from other police agencies across Washington, prosecutors, and officials from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators for focus groups and individual interviews. Variables included dates of calls for service from 2004 through 2018, circumstances surrounding calls for service, geographic beats, agency, whether calls were dispatch or officer initiated, and whether the agency was in a jurisdiction with legal cannabis.