Attitudes Toward Drug Policy and Legalization: Does Race Matter?

• In Event: Criminal Justice Policy and Institutionalized Racial/Ethnic Discrimination

Abstract

Over the last decade we have witnessed a shifting in drug policy across the United States and several states have recently legalized personal marijuana use and a number of other states now support medical marijuana policies. Recent research on drug policy attitudes has found generally favorable positions among college and university students for the legalization of marijuana, with females expressing slightly less support for these policy changes and criminal justice students showing more support than the general population overall. However, while research shows differences in rates of drug use according to race variables this has not been specifically examined when discussing drug policy attitudes. This research seeks to address this issue and examines differences in attitudes regarding drug policy according to racial characteristics. Findings are discussed.

Author

• J. Renee Trombley, Lincoln University of Missouri