Dissertation
BEFORE THE (LEGAL) STONED AGE: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESPONSE TO JUVENILE DRUG OFFENSES
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005474
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/119002
Abstract
In December of 2012, Colorado and Washington legalized the adult (21 and older) use of recreational marijuana. A concern with this change in legislation would be the effect(s) on youth drug use and drug crime in both states, as an increased availability of marijuana in general could increase the likelihood of youth gaining access to the drug. More than ten states and territories have legalized adult recreational marijuana in the nine years following Colorado and Washington, yet research regarding youth outcomes remains underdeveloped. The current study evaluates the legalization of recreational marijuana on youth criminal justice outcomes in Colorado and Washington. Specifically, monthly arrest rates from Washington and Colorado are compared to states without legalized recreational marijuana from 2010 through 2016 using interrupted time-series models.
Court case data for those under the age of 21 from Washington state between 2010 and 2018 are then used to evaluate the impact of recreational marijuana legalization on youth outcomes within the court system. Monthly charge rates, disposition outcome proportions and sentencing trends for marijuana related charges are evaluated using interrupted time-series analyses. Additionally, individual-level information from youth risk assessments is used to determine factors that predict disposition and sentencing outcomes pre- and post-legalization.
The results indicate a decrease in youth arrests for marijuana in the state of Washington, but not Colorado, immediately following legalization of recreational marijuana. This trend in Washington is also present in the charge rate results. There were almost no changes in the disposition trends, aside from a small decrease in the proportion of amended charges immediately following legalization. There was a sudden increase in the use of community service sentences following legalization with a consistent negative trend over time until the end of the study period. The factors that predict youth court case processing post-legalization of recreational marijuana in the state of Washington focus on aspects of youth risk and age. This study concludes with a discussion of these findings, limitations to the current research, and several directions for future research.
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Details
- Title
- BEFORE THE (LEGAL) STONED AGE: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESPONSE TO JUVENILE DRUG OFFENSES
- Creators
- Mikala Meize
- Contributors
- Dale W Willits (Advisor)David C. Brody (Committee Member)Nicholas P. Lovrich (Committee Member)Christopher J. Sullivan (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 248
- Identifiers
- 99900592360501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation