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Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy

OBJECTIVES. States that are legalizing cannabis for adult use are increasingly focused on equity, with the goal of repairing some of the harm caused by the War on Drugs. This study explains and describes the emphasis states are placing on equity and assesses whether public education can be used to i...

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Autores principales: Allen, Jane Appleyard, Lee, Youn Ok, Woodlea, Robyn, Malo, Vincenzo F., Zitney, Lauren V.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Research Society on Marijuana 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10361796/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37484049
http://dx.doi.org/10.26828/cannabis/2023/000146
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author Allen, Jane Appleyard
Lee, Youn Ok
Woodlea, Robyn
Malo, Vincenzo F.
Zitney, Lauren V.
author_facet Allen, Jane Appleyard
Lee, Youn Ok
Woodlea, Robyn
Malo, Vincenzo F.
Zitney, Lauren V.
author_sort Allen, Jane Appleyard
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES. States that are legalizing cannabis for adult use are increasingly focused on equity, with the goal of repairing some of the harm caused by the War on Drugs. This study explains and describes the emphasis states are placing on equity and assesses whether public education can be used to increase public support for equity-focused cannabis policies. METHODS. We conducted an online survey of 893 New Jersey adults in August and September of 2021, just as state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission was publishing the first set of regulations for the legal sale and use of cannabis for adults age 21 and older. The study included an experimental design, in which half of respondents viewed an educational message about equity-focused cannabis policies before answering survey questions, and the other half did not. RESULTS. Few participants (24.9%) were familiar with the concept of equity in cannabis policy, and a substantial proportion—from about 20% to 35%—provided a “neutral” or “don’t know” response when asked about support for specific policies. Exposure to an educational message was associated with greater perceived importance of equity in cannabis policy (p < 0.05) and greater support for equity-focused policies. Specifically, participants who saw an educational message had greater agreement that New Jersey should provide priority licensing (p < 0.01) and grants (p < 0.001) to people who have been arrested for cannabis, and who now want to participate in the legal cannabis industry. CONCLUSIONS. Cannabis regulators, public health professionals, and people working to advance racial justice may be able to advance state equity goals and remedy some of the harm from the War on Drugs by expanding public education campaigns to include equity messages.
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spelling pubmed-103617962023-07-22 Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy Allen, Jane Appleyard Lee, Youn Ok Woodlea, Robyn Malo, Vincenzo F. Zitney, Lauren V. Cannabis Research Article OBJECTIVES. States that are legalizing cannabis for adult use are increasingly focused on equity, with the goal of repairing some of the harm caused by the War on Drugs. This study explains and describes the emphasis states are placing on equity and assesses whether public education can be used to increase public support for equity-focused cannabis policies. METHODS. We conducted an online survey of 893 New Jersey adults in August and September of 2021, just as state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission was publishing the first set of regulations for the legal sale and use of cannabis for adults age 21 and older. The study included an experimental design, in which half of respondents viewed an educational message about equity-focused cannabis policies before answering survey questions, and the other half did not. RESULTS. Few participants (24.9%) were familiar with the concept of equity in cannabis policy, and a substantial proportion—from about 20% to 35%—provided a “neutral” or “don’t know” response when asked about support for specific policies. Exposure to an educational message was associated with greater perceived importance of equity in cannabis policy (p < 0.05) and greater support for equity-focused policies. Specifically, participants who saw an educational message had greater agreement that New Jersey should provide priority licensing (p < 0.01) and grants (p < 0.001) to people who have been arrested for cannabis, and who now want to participate in the legal cannabis industry. CONCLUSIONS. Cannabis regulators, public health professionals, and people working to advance racial justice may be able to advance state equity goals and remedy some of the harm from the War on Drugs by expanding public education campaigns to include equity messages. Research Society on Marijuana 2023-07-05 /pmc/articles/PMC10361796/ /pubmed/37484049 http://dx.doi.org/10.26828/cannabis/2023/000146 Text en © 2023 Authors et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original author and source are credited, the original sources is not modified, and the source is not used for commercial purposes.
spellingShingle Research Article
Allen, Jane Appleyard
Lee, Youn Ok
Woodlea, Robyn
Malo, Vincenzo F.
Zitney, Lauren V.
Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy
title Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy
title_full Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy
title_fullStr Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy
title_full_unstemmed Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy
title_short Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy
title_sort public education can be used to increase support for equity in cannabis policy
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10361796/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37484049
http://dx.doi.org/10.26828/cannabis/2023/000146
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