ArticleJournal of studies on alcohol and drugs2022
The Cannabis Policy Scale: A New Research and Surveillance Tool for U.S. States.
Article in Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed.
- State Cannabis and Alcohol Policy Environments: Associations With College Students' Use of Cannabis, Alcohol, and Both Substances.American journal of preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Relations between depression and cannabis use among college students in evolving state cannabis policy environments.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Medical Cannabis Use Across Ages 19-65 Years: U.S. Young and Middle Adults, 2018-2023.American journal of preventive medicine · 2026Article
- The theory of planned behavior partly explains why adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain consider using medical cannabis for pain management.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Associations Between State Cannabis and Alcohol Policy Restrictiveness and College Students' Cannabis Use, Binge Drinking and Co-Use.Substance use & misuse · 2026Article
- Patterns of Cannabis Use and Perceived Accessibility Among Underage U.S. Young Adults: Implications for Policy and Prevention.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2026Article
- Adult-use cannabis legalization in the united states: a scoping review of outcome monitoring recommendations.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Alcohol and Cannabis Use and Co-Use among Ethnic Groups in California.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2025Article
- Cannabis Policies, Cannabis, and Opioids in Suicide and Undetermined Intent Death.American journal of preventive medicine · 2025Article
- How do restrictions on opioid prescribing, harm reduction, and treatment coverage policies relate to opioid overdose deaths in the United States in 2013-2020? An application of a new state opioid policy scale.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Commentary on Pessar et al.: 'Downscaling' United States state cannabis policy to investigate environmental and social impacts on cannabis use.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- The association between state cannabis policies and cannabis use among adults and youth, United States, 2002-2019.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Historical change in associations between perceived risk, disapproval, and use of cannabis among young adults ages 19-30, 2011-2022.Addictive behaviors · 2025Article
- Improving Cannabis Policy Research at a Pivotal Time for Policy Development.American journal of public health · 2024Article
- Relationships Between Alcohol and Cannabis Policies in U.S. States, 1999-2019.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2024Article
- Changes in Cannabis Use From 2014 to 2019 Among Young Adults in Washington State.American journal of preventive medicine · 2024Article
- Efficiency and safety of cannabinoid medical use: an analysis of discussions and observed trends on Instagram.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveRapid shifts toward cannabis liberalization in the United States have created immense policy variability that is challenging to measure. We developed composite measures to characterize the restrictiveness of U.S. state cannabis policy environments.
methodNine panelists, consisting of four research team members and five expert policy consultants, nominated distinct cannabis policies pertaining to cannabis prohibition, medicalization, and legalization for recreational use. For each of the 17 nominated policies, panelists developed implementation ratings and rated each policy's relative efficacy for reducing excessive cannabis use by adults, youth use, and impaired driving. Cannabis Policy Scale scores were then calculated for each state-year for all 50 states from 1999 to 2019 by weighting policies by their efficacy and implementation ratings, and then summing over policies.
resultsMedian Cannabis Policy Scale scores remained stable until 2008, when they started declining (representing policy liberalization), with steeper declines after 2012. In 2019, state Cannabis Policy Scale scores targeting excessive use among the general population ranged from 29.6 to 66.7 for recreational cannabis legalization states, and from 72.4 to 93.4 for medical cannabis legalization states. Cannabis Policy Scale scores using youth-specific and driving-specific efficacy ratings showed similar trends.
conclusionsThe Cannabis Policy Scale reflects trends toward liberalization of cannabis policy in many U.S. states. Even within crude policy phenotypes (e.g., medical cannabis programs), Cannabis Policy Scale scores varied considerably between states and over time. The Cannabis Policy Scale is a new measure that can add nuance to cannabis policy research and help assess cannabis policy-outcome relationships.
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