The Great Cannabis Transformation and the Snowball Model of Incremental Policy Change

• In Event: Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 12: The Intersection of Law and Movements

Abstract

How does policy transformation occur? This paper traces the process through which 40 states have legalized cannabis for medical or recreational use in the last three decades, describing four waves of cannabis advocacy led by grassroots activists, political professionals funded by billionaire philanthropists, and corporate cannabis lobbyists. It proposes a snowball model for incremental policy change through which smaller initial policy victories established the conditions for future victories. For cannabis legalization, this model was carried out through three mechanisms. First, each successive state that legalized medical cannabis led to more patients coming out of the closet, building popular support by challenging stigma as many people realized their loved ones depended on cannabis. Second, after states began regulating legal cannabis markets, the resulting contributions to economic and tax revenue established powerful evidence of another argument for legalization. And third, these markets also led to a new political actor and funding source: cannabis industry lobbyists who have taken up the funding and leadership of ongoing legalization struggles, albeit motivated largely by profit. In methodological terms, this analysis transcends the disciplinary boundaries that commonly divide studies interrogating the policy impact of social movements from that of elites, interest groups, and corporate lobbyists. And in theoretical terms, the snowball model illuminates structural features of the US political system that promote the status quo, while helping to explain other recent cases of policy transformation like marriage equality and gambling legalization.

Author

• Alex Diamond, Oklahoma State University