Pot, Perceptions, and Public Policy: How Public Opinion Has Come to Shape Marijuana Reform

• In Event: Community Perspectives on Policing

Abstract

Why has marijuana reform shifted so dramatically over the last decade and a half? How has public opinion contoured and shaped cannabis policy, including its prohibition and, now, legalization efforts? Given these changing attitudes, what are the possible impacts of these sweeping new reforms? These questions (and others) are explored in this presentation. Specifically, I draw on historical accounts and the latest scholarship to place the current push to reform cannabis laws in context. The overall takeaways from this analysis are as follows: (a) public opinion has played a critical role in recent efforts to decriminalize and permit recreational use of marijuana; and (b) policymakers, advocates, and indeed those in opposition to regulation must consider these perceptions, attitudes, and experiences to advance their individual and likely competing goals (i.e., legalize or maintain the current prohibition). Overlooking the strong influence of public opinion on this movement has serious consequences in understanding the historical evolution of legalization as well as future consequences of regulation, particularly for youthful and marginalized populations.

Author

• Christina Mancini, Virginia Commonwealth University