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Abstract
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Hall and Lynskey1 highlight several outcomes featured in cannabis policy debates and correctly note that they will be shaped by the type of legalization that is implemented. Their excellent review of the emerging evidence about how the commercial approach influences health outcomes will hopefully inform future debates in the US and elsewhere.
A related outcome increasingly receiving attention in these debates is whether cannabis legalization can be used to promote social equity and help communities of color that have been and still are disproportionately affected by prohibition. Indeed, at a time when some in the US are discussing reparations and how to acknowledge and address the fact that the country's economy was heavily built on slavery, this is a particularly salient issue to consider.
Cannabis arrests have dropped dramatically in legalization states, although in some places they were already falling before the policy change2, 3. Overall, fewer people of color are being arrested for cannabis in legalization states, but this does not mean that legalization will eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in cannabis arrests3.
Having a criminal record has implications for health and economic well‐being and, in the US, there are additional consequences associated with having a drug offense on one's criminal record4. For example, in some places a cannabis offense can make it harder to access public housing or work in the newly legal industry. While the early efforts to legalize cannabis in the US did not directly address expunging criminal records, jurisdictions soon began to make it easier for individuals to clear these cannabis offenses from their records5. Some places have gone further by automatically expunging these offenses ...
Language: en |