Segregated Communities, Marijuana Legalization, and Concerns about the Mobility of Children

• In Event: Political Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Political Attitudes II (Table 19)

Abstract

Americans have grown increasingly supportive of marijuana legalization. By focusing on contexts rather than individual characteristics, I find that support for legalization is strong in communities characterized by the segregation of households with children from those without children. I argue that the sorting of families with children into segregated communities reflects a privilege-protection strategy, which ultimately shapes concerns about the criminal consequences of marijuana’s illegality on children’s future economic mobility, and the push to support legalization. Moreover, segregation matters more for support of legalization where there are higher percentages of households with children, and where there are greater opportunities for children’s future success, as signified by low income inequality and high occupational differentiation.

Author

• Burrel James Vann, San Diego State University