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. 2017 Jan;47(1):74-90.
doi: 10.1177/0022042616678607. Epub 2016 Dec 21.

State and National Contexts in Evaluating Cannabis Laws: A Case Study of Washington State

Christopher Cambron  1   2 , Katarina Guttmannova  3   2 , Charles B Fleming  3   4
Affiliations

State and National Contexts in Evaluating Cannabis Laws: A Case Study of Washington State

Christopher Cambron et al. J Drug Issues. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

As of January 2016, 23 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical or nonmedical cannabis, with more likely to follow. This dynamic policy context represents a substantial challenge for policy evaluation. Part I of this article provides a summary of state-level cannabis policy components across states and federal action regarding state-level policies. Part II presents a detailed history of cannabis policies in Washington State from 1998 to 2015 and analyzes the potential impacts of the policy changes on cannabis supply and demand. As an early adopter of both medical and nonmedical cannabis policies, Washington State provides an excellent example of the key elements to be considered in evaluating the relationship between policy changes and cannabis use. We highlight the importance of the interplay of federal enforcement priorities and previously adopted state-level cannabis regimes in interpreting the potential impacts of new cannabis policies.

Keywords: cannabis policy; drug policy; policy evaluation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cannabis policy timeline for Washington, successful major legislation in other states, and national actions. Note. Unsuccessful bills or ballot provisions are not shown (Ballotpedia, 2015; Barcott, 2015; Marijuana Policy Project, 2013b; ProCon.org, 2015). C = cannabis; SB = Senate Bill; HB = House Bill; MC = medical cannabis; NMC = nonmedical cannabis; DOH = Department of Health; LCB = Liquor and Cannabis Board; DOJ = Department of Justice.
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