(iPoster) Marijuana Policy Change in the United States, 1973 - 2021

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Abstract

This paper examines marijuana policy change at the state government level in the United States from 1973 to 2021. Three different public policies were adopted during this period that decriminalized (depenalized), permitted medical use, and legalized the drug for recreational use. In spirts over decades marijuana went from a heavily criminalized substance to a fully legalized one in 17 states (2021). The paper seeks to make contributions to both the punctuated equilibrium and policy diffusion literatures. A purposive sample of the states is chosen to illuminate the forces responsible for policy change at different points in history, and different venues used by advocacy groups to achieve policy change (ballot initiatives versus legislative campaigns). States are chosen in ways that provide contrast with one another with regard to the coalition of groups and individuals most responsible for new policies, to capture the typical participants having influence in specific time periods, and to observe the interaction nationally centered groups had with indigenous state organizations and legislators. The paper pieces this history together with qualitative data from primary and secondary source written records. In a time when the national government is exercising authoritarian control over parts of the economy, no longer protects minority groups from discrimination, and has pursued other policies that may result in conflict federalism, the findings of this study can shed light on how state officials and societal groups can successfully resist national government policies.

Author

• Phil Nicholas, University at Albany