Influence of Socio-Ecological and Economic Correlates on Marijuana Legalization Policy Across the States of America

Abstract

Marijuana legalization has been at the center of debate in the social and political realm of the United States. So far, thirty nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana either for recreational or medical purposes. States are taking a cautious approach to legalization in a policy context consisting of multi-layered sociopolitical systems. Strong arguments from advocacy groups supporting and opposing legalization highlight the significance of assessing the impact of marijuana use and its legalization on the well-being of the community and its members. Utilizing the social determinants of health and system perspectives, this study measures the cumulative effect of six socio-ecological and economic predictors, such as the state's marijuana use prevalence and median household income, on the dependent variable of marijuana legality scores using discriminant analysis and One-way ANOVA. As hypothesized, the result shows a significant influence of the predictors on the state policy score of marijuana legality. Predicted associations between independent and dependent variables were also found. Findings suggest that without a supportive policy context comprising social, economic, and political factors, marijuana legalization might not have the desired impact on the community. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided.

Keywords: United States; legalization; marijuana; medical; policy; recreational; substance.