Developing public health regulations for marijuana: lessons from alcohol and tobacco.
Until November 2012, no modern jurisdiction had removed the prohibition on the commercial production, distribution, and sale of marijuana for nonmedical purposes-not even the Netherlands. Government agencies in Colorado and Washington are now charged with granting production and processing licenses and developing regulations for legal marijuana, and other states and countries may follow. Our goal is not to address whether marijuana legalization is a good or bad idea but, rather, to help policymakers understand the decisions they face and some lessons learned from research on public health approaches to regulating alcohol and tobacco over the past century.
At the time this work was conducted, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula and Beau Kilmer were with the Drug Policy Research Center, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA. Alexander C. Wagenaar was with the Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville. Frank J. Chaloupka was with the Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois, Chicago. Jonathan P. Caulkins was with the Heinz School of Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
Rosalie Liccardo
RL
Pacula
Beau
B
Kilmer
Alexander C
AC
Wagenaar
Frank J
FJ
Chaloupka
Jonathan P
JP
Caulkins
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003120:Colorado; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011634:Public Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012907:Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013219:State Government; D062789:Tobacco Products; D014861:Washington