Preferences and attitudes to illicit drug policy held by individuals are likely to be an important influence in the development of illicit drug policy. Among the key factors impacting on an individual's preferences over substance use policy are their beliefs about the costs and benefits of drug...

Federal policies are often driven by innovations in practice at the local level. As the national conversation on drug policy shifts away from a punitive, 'war on drugs' approach, localities are experimenting with programs aimed at curbing the negative fiscal and public health consequences of...

This paper provides a critical review of the empirical and theoretical literatures on illegal drug policy, including cross-country comparisons, in order to evaluate three drug policy regimes: criminalization, legalization and “depenalization.” Drawing on the experiences of various states, as...

Like other states, minorities are disproportionately represented in the California's state prison system, particularly for drug offenses. Unlike other states, California has had a policy of mandatory diversion to drug treatment for non-violent drug offenders since mid-2001 (Proposition 36)....

Any scheme to legalize marijuana that has a chance of enactment will tax the stuff. But how? Like tobacco, based on weight? Like alcohol, by measuring the intoxicating chemical? Like shoes or hotel rooms, as a percentage of price? Or, as one city in California taxes medical marijuana, by...

We provide first-pass evidence that the legalization of the cannabis market across US states may be inducing a crime drop. Exploiting the recent staggered legalization enacted by the adjacent states of Washington (end of 2012) and Oregon (end of 2014) we find, combining county-level...

THE “WAR ON DRUGS” that began in the 1980s contributed to an unprecedented expansion in the U.S. inmate population. Prison and jail admissions more than tripled in the ensuing years (Harrison & Karberg, 2003), with drug violations accounting for approximately 60 percent of the increase in...

Over the last two decades, there has been a surge of opioid-related overdose deaths resulting in a myriad of state policy responses. Researchers have evaluated the effectiveness of such policies using a wide-range of statistical models, each of which requires multiple design choices that can...