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Evaluating alternative cannabis regimes
Open accessAbstract
Background: Cannabis policy continues to be controversial in North America, Europe and Australia. Aims: To inform this debate, we examine alternative legal regimes for controlling cannabis availability and use. Method: We review evidence on the effects of cannabis depenalisation in the USA, Australia and The Netherlands. We update and extend our previous (MacCoun & Reuter, 1997) empirical comparison of cannabis prevalence statistics in the USA, The Netherlands and other European nations. Results: The available evidence indicates that depenalisation of the possession of small quantities of cannabis does not increase cannabis prevalence. The Dutch experience suggests that commercial promotion and sales may significantly increase cannabis prevalence. Conclusions: Alternatives to an aggressively enforced cannabis prohibition are feasible and merit serious consideration. A model of depenalised possession and personal cultivation has many of the advantages of outright legalisation with few of its risks.
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“The removal of criminal penalties alone had little or no impact on the prevalence of drug use or drug-related health harms.”
From What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs? (2010) · cites this paper as MacCoun and Reuter 2001a
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“They concluded that the removal of criminal penalties appeared to produce positive but slight impacts.”
From What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs? (2010) · cites this paper as MacCoun and Reuter 2001a
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“The extent of additional use depended rather on the extent to which there was commercial promotion.”
From What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs? (2010) · cites this paper as MacCoun and Reuter 2001a
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“The primary impact was reducing the burden and cost in the criminal justice system.”
From What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs? (2010) · cites this paper as MacCoun and Reuter 2001a
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“They used the example of the Netherlands, where the rise in cannabis use did not immediately follow its depenalization, but coincided with the development of 'coffee shops' that openly promoted their illicit wares (MacCoun and Reuter 2001b).”
From What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs? (2010) · cites this paper as MacCoun and Reuter 2001b
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“This also reduced the intrusiveness of criminal justice responses to users.”
From What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs? (2010) · cites this paper as MacCoun and Reuter 2001a
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Research works printed but not linked: 25
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“For example, in most nations throughout the Western world, from Australia to Finland, there was an upturn of about one-half in rates of cannabis use among 18-year-olds between approximately 1992 and 1998 (MacCoun and Reuter 2001), though from very different base rates in the various countries.”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- MacCoun, R., & Reuter, P.
- Affiliations
- RAND Corporation (US)
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Corresponding author
- MacCoun, Robert
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2001-02
- Volume
- 178
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 123-128
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2112660815
- Cited by
- 168
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 6.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Law and Policy
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- cannabis policy, cannabis prevalence, cannabis prohibition, self-cultivation, cannabis legalization, drug policy alternatives
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Cannabis, Child, Cocaine, Heroin, Humans, Legislation, Drug, Marijuana Smoking, Netherlands, Illicit Drugs, United States, Prevalence
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