Introduction
I have extensive family out in Colorado and have always been curious as to whether or not the legalization of marijuana experiment was actually paying off. I have talked to different people, and it was easy to tell who came in preconceived thoughts about the legalization. If you talked to someone who absolutely hated marijuana to being with then of course they found problems with everything in the process. If you talked to someone who had a positive view on marijuana, they focused on only the positive things going on in the state. It seemed that no one wanted to acknowledge the other side’s opinions because it would somehow negate theirs. Questions I want to answer are “has legalization of marijuana had any noticeable positive impacts?” “has it had any noticeable negative impacts?” “what are the public perceptions of marijuana legalization?” “has legalization changed anyone’s opinion prior to legalization?”.
Primary Research Plan
For researching this paper, I plan on using both a survey and using scholarly papers already written about different countries legalization efforts. I wanted to use the survey because I think that will give me the atmospherics I will need about opinions. I have a good bit of family out in Colorado who have different views so I know I will get a good bit of varying opinions. I will try to get opinions outside of family as I know that doesn’t represent a fair view of larger state population but it’s the best I have right now. I will also acknowledge that shortcoming in my paper. I want to use published, peer-reviewed articles because that will give me the data needed for pre and post marijuana legalization laws in other countries. Uruguay was one of the first countries in the world to legalize recreational marijuana. Their population was heavily against legalization, but I want to see what their views are now that it’s been a few years later and if we are seeing the same shift in the populace of Colorado who were against legalization as well. plan to use surveys and a focus group for my primary research. My questions I will ask family members are:
- How long have you lived in Colorado?
- Have you ever used marijuana since living in Colorado?
- If so, when was the last time?
- Have you used it since it became legal?
- If so, how often do you use marijuana?
- Have you noticed an increase in crime since legalization? (the data does not support this but I wanted to see if they thought there was an increase in crime)
- Have you noticed an increase in homelessness in your area since legalization? (same situation as above)
- Do you have kids in the Colorado Public School system?
- If so, have you noticed an increase in education funding for your school?
From the answers I get from these questions, I will include a matrix that breaks down how each person responded and will include any quotes if I think will help understand the context on why they answered that way.
What Next
11-29 Gather last minute responses from family members
11-30 Start assembling matrix for responses and look for any last-minute peer-reviewed articles
12-02 Finish editing research draft
12-03 Submit draft!
Works Cited
Colorado Department of Public Safety (2018). Impacts of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado.
Campbell, William, et al. “Support for Marijuana (Cannabis) Legalization: Untangling Age, Period, and Cohort Effects.” Collabra. Psychology, vol. 3, no. 1, 2017, pp. Collabra. Psychology, 2017–01-01, Vol.3 (1).
Kerr, David C. R, et al. “Oregon Recreational Marijuana Legalization: Changes in Undergraduates’ Marijuana Use Rates From 2008 to 2016.” Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, vol. 32, no. 6, 2018, pp. 670–678.
Zambiasi, Diego, and Steven Stillman. “THE POT RUSH: IS LEGALIZED MARIJUANA A POSITIVE LOCAL AMENITY?” Economic Inquiry 58.2 (2020): 667-79. Web.
Queirolo, Rosario, Cecilia Rossel, Eliana Álvarez, and Lorena Repetto. “Why Uruguay Legalized Marijuana? The Open Window of Public Insecurity.” Addiction (Abingdon, England) 114.7 (2019): 1313-321. Web.
Miech, Richard. “Marijuana Legalization and Marijuana Prevalence Among Adolescents.” American Journal of Public Health (1971) 110.9 (2020): 1268-269. Web.
Vogel, Lauren. “What Really Happened after Colorado Legalized Marijuana?” Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) 190.41 (2018): E1237-1238. Web.