Do Citizens Know Whether Their State Has Decriminalized Marijuana? Assessing the Perceptual Component of Deterrence Theory (original) (raw)
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Social Science Research Network, 2008
Deterrence theory proposes that legal compliance is influenced ry the anticipated risk of legal sanctions. This implies that changes in law will produce corresponding changes in behavior, but the marijuana decriminalization literature finds on!J fragmentary support far this prediction. But fiw studies have direct!J assessed the accurary of citizens' perceptions of legal sanctions. The heterogeneity in state statutory penalties far marijuana possession across the United States provides an opportunity to examine this issue. Using national suroey data, we find that the percentages who believe they could be jailed far marijuana possession are quite similar in both states that have removed those penalties and those that have not. Our results help to clarijj why statistical studies have faund inconsistent support far an effect of decriminalization on marijuana possession.
2008
Deterrence theory proposes that legal compliance is influenced by the anticipated risk of legal sanctions. But few studies have directly assessed the accuracy of citizens' perceptions of legal sanctions. The heterogeneity in state statutory penalties for marijuana possession across the United States provides an opportunity to examine this question. Using national survey data, we find that the percentages who believe they could be jailed for marijuana possession are quite similar in both states that have removed those penalties and those that have not. Our results help to clarify why statistical studies have found inconsistent support for an effect of decriminalization on marijuana possession.
2008
Deterrence theory proposes that legal compliance is influenced by the anticipated risk of legal sanctions. But few studies have directly assessed the accuracy of citizens' perceptions of legal sanctions. The heterogeneity in state statutory penalties for marijuana possession across the United States provides an opportunity to examine this question. Using national survey data, we find that the percentages who believe they could be jailed for marijuana possession are quite similar in both states that have removed those penalties and those that have not. Our results help to clarify why statistical studies have found inconsistent support for an effect of decriminalization on marijuana possession.
Do Citizens Know Whether Their State Has Decriminalized Marijuana
2009
Deterrence theory proposes that legal compliance is influenced ry the anticipated risk of legal sanctions. This implies that changes in law will produce corresponding changes in behavior, but the marijuana decriminalization literature finds on!J fragmentary support far this prediction. But fiw studies have direct!J assessed the accurary of citizens' perceptions of legal sanctions. The heterogeneity in state statutory penalties far marijuana possession across the United States provides an opportunity to examine this issue. Using national suroey data, we find that the percentages who believe they could be jailed far marijuana possession are quite similar in both states that have removed those penalties and those that have not. Our results help to clarijj why statistical studies have faund inconsistent support far an effect of decriminalization on marijuana possession.
The Effect of Marijuana Legalization on Anticipated Use: A Test of Deterrence Theory
International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 2015
Marijuana is the most frequently used illicit drug in the world (Erickson, Van Der Maas, and Hathaway, 2013:428). Here in the United States, public support for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use is substantial. With public support, both Colorado and Washington passed state initiatives in 2012 to legalize recreational use of marijuana for individuals aged 21 years and older. Even the federal government has recently reversed their initial position to continue to enforce federal drug laws within these states. With what appears to be increasingly liberal attitudes toward marijuana use and even toward legalization, some are concerned about what this may mean for drug use in America. To many, it appears obvious that with changing attitudes and more lenient policies, use of marijuana will increase and in turn exacerbate a host of individual and societal problems that marijuana use is thought to cause. The primary focus of this study examines the first part of these concerns: to what extent will marijuana use increase with these policy changes? Specifically, this research looks at what extent current abstainers of marijuana might use if it were legalized.
Policing Pot: State-Level Cannabis Arrests Increase Perceived Risks and Costs but Not Use
Cannabis
Legal sanctions are purported to play a role in cannabis use and related consequences. General models of deterrence suggest that increases in arrests should decrease consumption by heightening perceptions of the negative consequences of use as well as the likelihood and severity of penalties. The present study examined if arrests resulting from cannabis possession relate to cannabis consumption, perceptions of use, and likelihood and severity of related penalties. Combining data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health with the FBI Uniform Crime Report (2002-2013) allowed for the estimation of a series of fixed-effects models that compare rates of arrests and perceived risks of aggregate rates of self-reported use at the state-level over time. Forty-nine states reported data (N = 592 state-years). Cannabis-related arrest rates (ratio of possession arrests for state/state population times 1,000) ranged from 0.04 - 5.63. Increases in cannabis-related arrests were associated wit...
Perceived Penal Sanction and Self-Reported Criminality: A Neglected Approach to Deterrence Research
Social Problems, 1972
Interviews with 321 university students were used to determine relationships between admitted marijuana use and theft and perceptions of the severity and certainty of punishment. Use of marijuana and theft activity were expected to be least frequent among those who: (1) perceive the harshest penalties for marijuana possession and petty larceny; (2) perceive the greatest likelihood of receiving the maximum penalty upon conviction for those offenses; (3) expect that law violaters are, generally, caught by the police; (4) have the greatest familiarity with others who have been arrested for theft or marijuana possession; and (5) perceive the greatest chance of being arrested themselves, should they steal or use marijuana. The data suggest that (1) perceptions of severe punishment are largely unrelated to admitted theft or marijuana use; (2) flgeneralft deterrence appears not to be working for either offense --that is, punishment of notherft when perceived by nego appears unrelated to negossn admitted criminality; (3) the expectation that arrest or maximum penalties upon conviction would be likely (certain) for oneself appears somewhat related to lower levels of marijuana use and larceny. However, these latter relationships are stronger for marijuana use than they are for theft. (Author)
Marijuana Decriminalization: What does it mean in the United States?
2003
It is well known that eleven states reduced the criminal sanctions associated with possession of small amounts of marijuana. In this paper we review the eleven original decriminalization statutes, documenting key dimensions of these laws and identifying their common denominator. We then examine state laws in effect as of December 31, 1999, along the same key dimensions and show that it is impossible to uniquely identify these 11 states. Nondecriminalized states have also reduced penalties associated with possession of small amounts of marijuana as early as 1989, calling into question the interpretation of studies evaluating this policy during the past decade. We conclude by showing that the inclusion of legal dimensions of the policy does not diminish the association identified between decriminalization and recent use.