Health Policy: Getting High in New York: Exploring Equity and Social Impact of Cannabis Legalization

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November Health Policy SIG: April Roggio – Getting High in New York State: Exploring Equity and Social Impact of Cannabis Legalization

Presentation Title: Getting High in New York State: Exploring Equity and Social Impacts of Cannabis Legalization: A Case Study of New York State’s Recreational Cannabis Policies.
Abstract: New York State recently legalized recreational cannabis for public consumption. The “roll-out” has been fraught with challenges, including an uncertain policy environment, legislative guidance that produced numerous lawsuits, and guidelines that prioritized social equity but were widely un-implementable. In an era of broad public support for access to cannabis, the challenges are instructive; more so, during a time when we will likely need to radically restructure markets to meet sustainable development needs, it is also a fascinating look at the ways in which we might get market liberalization right…or very wrong. We find that there is frequently inadequate data available to judge market conditions, for example. Moreover, as recreational cannabis has become more acceptable, evidence suggests that the illegal market for marijuana has flourished, while there has been lax enforcement of unlicensed operations. Moreover, a layered taxing scheme in states has often driven up the cost of legal cannabis, making it far more expensive than what is available from unlicensed operations. This short hybrid approach – a practitioner-academic partnership of sorts – utilizes causal loop mapping to explore the impacts of New York’s policy efforts. We conclude with some policy recommendations, and propose a research agenda that merges approaches to facilitate more robust practitioner conversations.
Speaker Bio: April M Roggio coordinates a multi-institution research team focused on food system localization. Her recent work focuses on the study of municipal interest in foodshed localization; participatory guarantee systems; collaborative governance; climate resilience in rural communities; and cannabis policy in New York State. She earned a Masters in Public Policy, and a PhD in Public Administration from Rockefeller College, at the University at Albany, focused on the intersection of judgment and decision sciences, using system dynamics modeling. She is currently a visiting assistant professor at the University at Albany and a research associate with the Center for Policy Research.

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