Green Light: Investigating Cannabis-Related Public Health and Public Safety Shifts in the Era of Legalization

This dissertation investigates the impact of recreational cannabis legalization (RCL) on law enforcement, public safety, and public health through three interconnected studies. The first paper examines racial and age-related disparities in cannabis law enforcement during the era of legalization. It utilizes city-level data and modern analytical techniques to explore how shifts in policy have influenced arrest patterns across various demographic groups. The second paper explores the effect of state-level cannabis advertising restrictions on cannabis risk perception, initiation, and use among adolescents, young adults, and adults. By using a continuous indicator of marketing restrictiveness, this research assesses how variations in advertising regulations impact cannabis-related behaviors and perceptions across different age groups. The third paper revisits the impact of cannabis laws on cannabis-involved driving, employing updated data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) to analyze trends in cannabis-related traffic fatalities. This study focuses on incidents with confirmed blood tests and several person-level covariates to offer a more accurate assessment of the impact of legalization on cannabis-involved crashes. The results of these studies provide a comprehensive analysis of RCL's consequences, revealing significant findings related to enforcement disparities, the effectiveness of marketing restrictions, and the impact on driving safety. These insights aim to inform policymakers on balancing public health, safety, and social equity in the evolving landscape of cannabis regulation.