Plunk Andrew D, Peglow Stephanie L, Harrell Paul T, Grucza Richard A
Department of Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk.
Department of Psychiatry, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk.
JAMA Pediatr. 2019 Aug 1;173(8):763-769. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.1539.
Civil liberty advocates typically support legalization of cannabis, which targets adult use, rather than decriminalization, which can affect both adults and youths. However, it is unknown how arrests of youths for cannabis possession change when adult use of cannabis is legalized.
To model changes in arrest rates of adults and youths after decriminalization and legalization of cannabis.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This quasi-experimental study used the publicly available Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data: Arrests by Age, Sex, and Race administrative data set to examine arrest rates in 38 states from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2016. Adult (age, ≥18 years) and youth (age, <18 years) arrests for possession of cannabis were examined. States were excluded if they did not report complete arrest data or if a policy was implemented that reduced penalties for possession of cannabis but fell short of decriminalization. Fixed-effects regression was used in an extended difference-in-differences framework. The analyses in their final form were conducted between January 17 and February 28, 2019.
Living in a state with a cannabis decriminalization policy (ie, making the penalty for cannabis possession similar to the small fine for a traffic violation) or legalization policy (ie, creating a legal supply of cannabis along with the removal of penalties for possession of a small amount of cannabis for recreational use).
State cannabis possession arrest rate per 100 000 population.
Data from 38 states were examined, including 4 states with cannabis legalization policies and 7 states with cannabis decriminalization policies. The adult arrest rate decreased by 131.28 (95% CI, 106.23-154.21) per 100 000 population after the implementation of decriminalization and 168.50 (95% CI, 158.64-229.65) per 100 000 population after the implementation of legalization. The arrest rate for youths decreased by 60 (95% CI, 42-75) per 100 000 population after decriminalization but did not significantly change after legalization in a state (7 per 100 000 population; 95% CI, -15 to 30).
Legalization, as implemented through 2016, did not appear to reduce arrests for cannabis possession among youths, despite having benefited adults. The study's findings suggest that decriminalization reduces youth arrests in most cases, but these findings also suggest that any benefit for youths could be lost when adult use has also been legalized. To address this problem, it appears that state decriminalization policies should take the additional step to explicitly describe when youths can be arrested for possession of small amounts of cannabis.
公民自由倡导者通常支持大麻合法化，其针对的是成年人使用，而非非刑罪化，因为非刑罪化会影响成年人和青少年。然而，当大麻成人使用合法化时，因持有大麻而被捕的青少年数量如何变化尚不清楚。
模拟大麻非刑罪化和合法化后成年人及青少年逮捕率的变化。
设计、设置和参与者：这项准实验研究使用了公开可用的统一犯罪报告计划数据：按年龄、性别和种族分类的逮捕行政数据集，以检查2000年1月1日至2016年12月31日期间38个州的逮捕率。研究了因持有大麻而被捕的成年人（年龄≥18岁）和青少年（年龄<18岁）情况。如果州未报告完整的逮捕数据，或实施了减轻持有大麻刑罚但未达到非刑罪化程度的政策，则将该州排除。在扩展的差异中的差异框架中使用固定效应回归。最终形式的分析于2019年1月17日至2月28日进行。
生活在实施大麻非刑罪化政策（即持有大麻的刑罚与交通违规小额罚款类似）或合法化政策（即建立合法大麻供应并取消对持有少量用于娱乐用途大麻的刑罚）的州。
每10万人口中该州因持有大麻被捕的比率。
检查了38个州的数据，包括4个实施大麻合法化政策的州和7个实施大麻非刑罪化政策的州。实施非刑罪化后，每10万人口中成年人逮捕率下降了131.28（95%CI，106.23 - 154.21），实施合法化后，每10万人口中成年人逮捕率下降了168.50（95%CI，158.64 - 229.65）。非刑罪化后，每10万人口中青少年逮捕率下降了60（95%CI，42 - 75），但在一个州实施合法化后未出现显著变化（每10万人口中7人；95%CI，-15至30）。
截至2016年实施的合法化政策，尽管使成年人受益，但似乎并未减少青少年因持有大麻而被捕的情况。该研究结果表明，在大多数情况下非刑罪化会减少青少年被捕，但这些结果也表明，当成人使用也合法化时，青少年可能无法从中受益。为解决这一问题，各州的非刑罪化政策似乎应进一步明确说明在何种情况下可以逮捕持有少量大麻的青少年。
