IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcjust/v85y2023ics0047235222001118.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cannabis and criminology: A history of race, addiction, and inconvenient research

Author

Listed:
  • Wheeldon, Johannes
  • Heidt, Jon

Abstract

While efforts to restrict the use of cannabis are more than a century old, policy liberalization is more recent. History suggests that the growing tolerance for cannabis will continue to be met with opposition. Cannabis policy has been trapped in a recurrent rotation from acceptance and increased use to hostility and expansive efforts to control those who consume it. This paper considers how historical criminology can uncover criminological artifacts to conceive, frame, and clarify cannabis criminalization, decriminalization, and liberalization. As a subject, cannabis was shaped by forces that had little to do with the plant itself, which led it to be socially constructed as evil, dangerous, or otherwise risky. We consider the history of cannabis through the lenses of race, addiction, and research and explore reports from five different countries on cannabis and criminal justice policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Wheeldon, Johannes & Heidt, Jon, 2023. "Cannabis and criminology: A history of race, addiction, and inconvenient research," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:85:y:2023:i:c:s0047235222001118
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101991
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235222001118
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101991?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carl L. Hart, 2017. "Viewing addiction as a brain disease promotes social injustice," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(3), pages 1-1, March.
    2. Huber III Arthur & Newman Rebecca & LaFave Daniel, 2016. "Cannabis Control and Crime: Medicinal Use, Depenalization and the War on Drugs," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 1-35, October.
    3. Dragone, Davide & Prarolo, Giovanni & Vanin, Paolo & Zanella, Giulio, 2019. "Crime and the legalization of recreational marijuana," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 488-501.
    4. Ely Aaronson & Gil Rothschild‐Elyassi, 2021. "The symbiotic tensions of the regulatory–carceral state: The case of cannabis legalization," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(S1), pages 23-39, November.
    5. Hunt, Priscillia E & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Weinberger, Gabriel, 2018. "High on Crime? Exploring the Effects of Marijuana Dispensary Laws on Crime in California Counties," IZA Discussion Papers 11567, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Dan Jin & Philippe Henry & Jacqueline Shan & Jie Chen, 2021. "Classification of cannabis strains in the Canadian market with discriminant analysis of principal components using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-14, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Mesnard, Alice & Perrault, Tiffanie, 2023. "Weeding out the dealers? The economics of cannabis legalization," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 62-101.
    2. Xiuming Dong & Justin Tyndall, 2024. "The impact of recreational marijuana dispensaries on crime: evidence from a lottery experiment," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1383-1414, April.
    3. Grant W. Neeley & Lilliard E. Richardson Jr., 2022. "Marijuana Policy Bundles in the American States Over Time and Their Impact on the Use of Marijuana and Other Drugs," Evaluation Review, , vol. 46(2), pages 165-199, April.
    4. Carrieri, Vincenzo & Madio, Leonardo & Principe, Francesco, 2019. "Light cannabis and organized crime: Evidence from (unintended) liberalization in Italy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 63-76.
    5. Rahi Abouk & Keshar M. Ghimire & Johanna Catherine Maclean & David Powell, 2023. "Pain Management and Work Capacity: Evidence From Workers’ Compensation and Marijuana Legalization," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 737-770, June.
    6. Dmitrieva, Alexandra & Stepanov, Vladimir & Titar, Ivan, 2024. "(e)Managing the uncertainty of tuberculosis in the post-Soviet limbo: Tracking prisoners' coerced mobility for treatment in Ukrainian prisons," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    7. Diego Zambiasi & Steven Stillman, 2020. "The Pot Rush: Is Legalized Marijuana A Positive Local Amenity?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(2), pages 667-679, April.
    8. Baggio, Michele & Chong, Alberto & Suryanarayana, Revathy, 2024. "High times and troubled relationships: Recreational marijuana laws and intimate partner violence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    9. Aaron R Kaufman & Eitan D Hersh, 2020. "The political consequences of opioid overdoses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-10, August.
    10. Keaton Miller & Boyoung Seo, 2021. "The Effect of Cannabis Legalization on Substance Demand and Tax Revenues," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 107-145.
    11. Cheng, Stephanie F. & De Franco, Gus & Lin, Pengkai, 2023. "Marijuana liberalization and public finance: A capital market perspective on the passage of medical use laws," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1).
    12. Armstrong, Michael J., 2023. "Relationships between sales of legal medical cannabis and alcohol in Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 28-33.
    13. Mitre-Becerril, David & MacDonald, John M., 2024. "Does urban development influence crime? Evidence from Philadelphia’s new zoning regulations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    14. Cho, Sungwoo & Gonçalves, Felipe & Weisburst, Emily, 2021. "Do Police Make Too Many Arrests? The Effect of Enforcement Pullbacks on Crime," IZA Discussion Papers 14907, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Marco Francesconi & Jonathan James, 2022. "Alcohol Price Floors and Externalities: The Case of Fatal Road Crashes," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(4), pages 1118-1156, September.
    16. Christian Gunadi, 2022. "Does expanding access to cannabis affect traffic crashes? County‐level evidence from recreational marijuana dispensary sales in Colorado," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(10), pages 2244-2268, October.
    17. Crinò, Rosario & Immordino, Giovanni & Piccolo, Salvatore, 2019. "Marginal deterrence at work," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 586-612.
    18. Wu, Guangzhen & Durante, Katherine A. & Melton, Heather C., 2024. "Pipe dreams: Cannabis legalization and the persistence of racial disparities in jail incarceration," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. Scott Callahan & David M. Bruner & Chris Giguere, 2021. "Smoke and Fears: The Effects of Marijuana Prohibition on Crime," Working Papers 21-12, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    20. Mir M. Ali & Chandler McClellan & Ryan Mutter & Daniel I. Rees, 2023. "Recreational marijuana laws and the misuse of prescription opioids: Evidence from National Survey on Drug Use and Health microdata," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 277-301, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:85:y:2023:i:c:s0047235222001118. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcrimjus .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.