Public Education Can Be Used to Increase Support for Equity in Cannabis Policy

Authors

  • Jane Allen RTI International
  • Youn Lee RTI International
  • Robyn Woodlea RTI International
  • Vincenzo Malo RTI International
  • Lauren Zitney RTI International

Abstract

Objectives. States that are legalizing cannabis for adult use are increasingly focused on equity, with the goal of repairing some of the harm caused by the War on Drugs. This study explains and describes the emphasis states are placing on equity and assesses whether public education can be used to increase public support for equity-focused cannabis policies. Methods. We conducted an online survey of 893 New Jersey adults in August and September of 2021, just as state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission was publishing the first set of regulations for the legal sale and use of cannabis for adults age 21 and older. The study included an experimental design, in which half of respondents viewed an educational message about equity-focused cannabis policies before answering survey questions, and the other half did not. Results. Few participants (24.9%) were familiar with the concept of equity in cannabis policy, and a substantial proportion—from about 20% to 35%—provided a “neutral” or “don’t know” response when asked about support for specific policies. Exposure to an educational message was associated with greater perceived importance of equity in cannabis policy (p < 0.05) and greater support for equity-focused policies. Specifically, participants who saw an educational message had greater agreement that New Jersey should provide priority licensing (p < 0.01) and grants (p < 0.001) to people who have been arrested for cannabis, and who now want to participate in the legal cannabis industry. Conclusions. Cannabis regulators, public health professionals, and people working to advance racial justice may be able to advance state equity goals and remedy some of the harm from the War on Drugs by expanding public education campaigns to include equity messages.

Author Biographies

Jane Allen, RTI International

Jane Appleyard Allen is a Senior Manager of Public Health in RTI International’s Center for Health Analytics, Media, and Policy. She has more than 20 years of experience evaluating national and state mass media campaigns, including the National Youth Anti-drug Media Campaign, the truth campaign, FDA’s The Real Cost campaign, and Colorado’s Responsibility Grows Here and Forward Together campaigns. She is the lead evaluator for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Retail Marijuana Education Program.

Ms. Allen’s research examines the influence of media campaigns and advertising characteristics on risk perceptions, beliefs, and behavior change within specific populations. She is engaged in research to understand the beliefs and behaviors of adult cannabis consumers in the context of legalization, and to inform the development of cannabis regulations. She studies factors that influence youth and adult smoking and vaping, including public health policy and tobacco industry marketing. Ms. Allen is interested in the unintended effects of public policy on health, and in research to reduce racial inequities in health outcomes. Ms. Allen has co-authored 47 peer-reviewed journal articles, and is the first author of two book chapters.

Ms. Allen worked collaboratively with RTI’s Black Employee Resource Group to develop the Ally Workshop, which she also facilitates. The BERG Ally Workshop focuses on racism as a system designed to control and exploit Black people in the United States, and on how allies can work effectively within their own spheres of influence to disrupt anti-Black racism and other racism.

 

Youn Lee, RTI International

Youn Ok Lee studies health behavior, heath policy, and related issues surrounding the use of tobacco products and e-cigarettes. She is a leader of RTI’s multidisciplinary research team on e-cigarettes, coordinating our efforts to advance the scientific community’s understanding of these rapidly developing products as they grow into a billion-dollar business.

Dr. Lee has led several evaluations of state and federal programs for tobacco control, smoking cessation and prevention, and tobacco education. Her work draws on theories and methods from sociology, health behavior change, social psychology, and marketing. Major clients have included the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Lee joined RTI in 2012. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, and a social scientist at the Rescue Social Change Group in San Diego, California. She is a member of the American Public Health Association, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and American Sociological Association.

Vincenzo Malo, RTI International

Mr. Malo has a MSc in Global Health and training in health disparities and inequities research practices. He has 4 years of experience designing, implementing, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative research studies on social determinants of health and social support. His research has focused on youth facing social/cultural/economic barriers including LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC populations and their families across the United States and low- and middle-income countries. He brings a strong analytic background to the team, having analyzed media data for the FDA’s The Real Cost Campaign.

Lauren Zitney, RTI International

Lauren Zitney is an economist within RTI International’s Center for Health Analytics, Media, and Policy. She is a masterful collaborator and communicator whose strength lies in understanding
multiple perspectives and extracting the essence of each team member’s perspective in order to generate a
cutting-edge solution. Ms. Zitney is also extremely detail oriented, earning her a reputation as an excellent
analyst, taking on roles primarily in data management, quality control, and analysis

Cannabis - Publication of the Research Society on Marijuana

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Published

2023-07-05

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2023): Cannabis

Section

Original Report

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Copyright (c) 2023 Jane Allen, Youn Lee, Robyn Woodlea, Vincenzo Malo, Lauren Zitney

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.