Marijuana Legalization: Lessons from the 2012 State Proposals

On November 6, 2012, citizens in three U.S. states will vote on whether to legalize production, distribution, possession, and sale of marijuana for general-not just medical- use. Legalization is typically imagined as an up or down, binary choice. However, a comparison of 17 legalization proposals actively discussed in various U.S. states in 2012 reveals differences that would have important consequences for price, availability, arrest-risk, use, and, hence, health. This paper divides the proposals into three broad categories and assesses their political feasibility. It then addresses the implications of state-level legalization, and possible federal responses to it, for retail price, tax revenues, and spill-over effects in other states where marijuana would remain illegal.