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Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know® 1st Edition
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Marijuana is forbidden by international treaties and by national and local laws across the globe. But those laws are under challenge in several countries. In the U.S., there is no short-term prospect for changes in federal law, but sixteen states allow medical use and recent initiatives to legalize production and non-medical use garnered more than 40% support in four states. California's Proposition 19 nearly passed in 2010, and multiple states are expected to consider similar measures in the years to come.
The debate and media coverage surrounding Proposition 19 reflected profound confusion, both about the current state of the world and about the likely effects of changes in the law. In addition, not all supporters of "legalization" agree on what it is they want to legalize: Just using marijuana? Growing it? Selling it? Advertising it? If sales are to be legal, what regulations and taxes should apply? Different forms of legalization might have very different results.
Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know® will provide readers with a non-partisan primer about the topic, covering everything from the risks and benefits of using marijuana, to describing the current laws around the drug in the U.S. and abroad. The authors discuss the likely costs and benefits of legalization at the state and national levels and walk readers through the "middle ground" of policy options between prohibition and commercialized production. The authors also consider how marijuana legalization could personally impact parents, heavy users, medical users, drug traffickers, and employers.
What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
- ISBN-100199913730
- ISBN-13978-0199913732
- Edition1st
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateJuly 13, 2012
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions8.2 x 0.6 x 5.4 inches
- Print length288 pages
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WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW About This Series
Who it's for:
Busy people with diverse interests, ranging from college students to professionals, who wish to inform themselves in a succinct yet authoritative manner about a particular topic.
What's inside:
An incisive approach to a complex and timely issue, laid out in a straight-forward, question-and-answer format.
Meet Our Authors
Top experts in their given fields, ranging from an Economist correspondent to a director at the Council on Foreign Relations, you can trust our authors’ expertise and guidance.
Popular Topics in the "What Everyone Needs to Know" Series
- International Politics
- Environmental Policies
- World History
- Sciences & Math
- Religion & Spirituality
From Booklist
Review
"Essential reading for all who seek rational marijuana policies." -Eric Schlosser, author of Reefer Madness
"Absolute best book there is for neutral information on marijuana and legalization no matter what side you are on." --Tony Dokoupil, MSNBC
One of "The 10 Best Books on Pot." --Daily Beast
One of "The Best Books about the American Drug War." --Huffington Post
"Parents, educators, law enforcement and politicians - everyone, really - should read Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know. Assembled by the best policy analysts of our time, yet readable at the 6th grade level." --David Downs, co-author of Beyond Buds
"This is an admirably thorough, well-balanced, fair, and sensible assessment of this particular issue within the larger context of federal drug policy. The authors are specialists in the field, and seem determined to explain the problem rather than offer dogmatic solutions." --The Weekly Standard
"I'm going to start out by saying if you have any interest whatsoever in the drug legalization debate, then run - don't walk - to your local or online bookstore and get this book. . . [Y]ou, as the average American, can learn a LOT about marijuana use, distribution, enforcement, decriminalization at the state level, and the legalization debate by reading this book. I'll warn you; it may cause your values to shift from 'in favor' or 'against' into a happy level of indecisiveness, which always fosters a more civil level of debate." --Sylvia Longmire, author of Cartel and Border Insecurity
"In this nonpartisan book (the authors themselves, all public-policy academics, don't even personally hold the same viewpoints), readers will learn about the risks and benefits of marijuana legalization. The work outlines marijuana basics in a Q&A format-such as 'Has marijuana been getting more potent?' and 'Is marijuana really the nation's leading cash crop?'-and considers legal and personal ramifications, from distribution to taxation to addiction. A valuable primer for anyone interested in the current debate about the war on drugs." - Booklist
Book Description
About the Author
Angela Hawken is Associate Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University.
Beau Kilmer is Co-Director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.
Mark Kleiman is Professor of Public Policy at UCLA and editor of The Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. He is Washington state's lead adviser on the legalization of marijuana, and was named by Politico Magazine as one of the Politico 50, a list of the key thinkers, doers and visionaries reshaping American politics. He is the author of When Brute Force Fails and Against Excess.
Product details
- Publisher : Oxford University Press; 1st edition (July 13, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0199913730
- ISBN-13 : 978-0199913732
- Item Weight : 10.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 8.2 x 0.6 x 5.4 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #6,026,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #896 in Cultural Policy
- #4,316 in Government Social Policy
- #18,811 in Criminology (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Mark A. R. Kleiman
Mark A.R. Kleiman is Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. His teaching and research cover drug policy, crime control policy, and methods of policy analysis. His books include *Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control* and *Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results*, and *When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment* (one of The Economist's "Books of the Year" for 2009).
Most recently, he has joined Jonathan Caulkins, Angela, Hawken, and Beau Kilmer in writing two books in Oxford's "What Everyone Needs to Know" series, one on *Drug Policy* and, most recently, one on *Marijuana Legalization*. He edits the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis and blogs at The Reality-Based Community (http://www.samefacts.com). His essay in Foreign Affairs, "Surgical Strikes in the Drug Wars: Smarter Strategies for Both Sides of the Border," presents an innovative approach to reducing drug-trafficking violence.
Mr. Kleiman studied political science, philosophy, and economics at Haverford College and received his Master of Public Policy degree and his Ph.D. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where he also taught before coming to UCLA. His governmental experience includes stints on Capitol Hill (working for Les Aspin), in Boston City Hall, and at the Justice Department. His firm, BOTEC Analysis Corporation, advises local, state, and national governments on drug policy and crime control.
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Customers find the book excellent for scholarly and straightforward information on cannabis policy. They describe the writing as lucid, easy to read, and well-documented. Readers also find the economics fascinating. Additionally, they say the presentation is balanced and objective.
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Customers find the book excellent and interesting. They say it's a thorough summary of knowledge in the area of cannabis policy. Readers also mention it's honest and helps readers understand the different types of plans.
"...Jonathan P. Caulkins, Mark A.R. Leiman and Angela Hawken is a thoroughly excellent, non-partisan discussion of marijuana legalization...." Read more
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Customers find the book lucidly written, thorough, and easy to read. They also say it's more scholarly than most books on marijuana.
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Customers find the book thought-provoking and annoying. They say it provides extensive information on the economics of legalization. Readers also mention it's a breath of fresh air on the subject and an excellent, non-partisan discussion of marijuana legalization.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2012
The book is divided into two sections: 'Marijana and Prohibition Today' and 'Legalization and its Consequences'. The chapters pose questions such as, 'How is marijuana produced and distributed today?', 'What is known about the nonmedical benefits of using marijuana?', 'What if marijuana was treated like alcohol?' and so on. Importantly, the authors do not dumb down the issues, resort to polemics or cajole us to join any one side of the argument. Although we might come to understand that reasonable people can disagree on specific points, the plain facts of the failed prohibition policies and the relative benign characteristics of marijuana consumption inexorably move us forward to a place where we can imagine real reform.
I believe the book offers a number of valuable takeaways. As can be seen in the case of California's medical marijuana laws, the authors argue that referendums do not always produce the best policies; they believe it would be far preferable to legislate policy through open, deliberative processes. The authors suggest that we should avoid a marketplace dominated by a few large, profit-maximizing corporations who would probably encourage user dependency through insidious marketing practices; instead, it might be far more preferable to empower community-based coops or perhaps local government monopolies on production and trade to ensure greater product quality, consistency and reasonable end user prices. In any case, the authors provide evidence that legalization might best be achieved if the federal government backs away and allows individual states to experiment with their various reforms; whereupon the most successful ones could be subsequently adapted by other states.
Interestingly, we learn that perhaps the biggest wildcard pertaining to legalized weed is alcohol. Although the authors largely debunk the inflated cost savings to the criminal justice system that might be achieved through the relaxation of marijuana laws, they stress that we can not know with certainty if the inevitable increase in marijuana use that will come about through legalization will encourage greater use of alcohol (or for that matter, other illegal drugs), or not. Recognizing of course that alcohol is the far more destructive drug (see also Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?), the authors caution that any potential benefits gained through legalizing marijuana could be more than offset if alcohol consumption increases in tandem.
In the final chapter, the four authors offer their opinions on what might be done. It should be noted that none are in favor of the status quo; the individual authors simply differ on the degree of legalization they recommend implementing at this point in time. As noted, the authors stress that legalization should be a closely-monitored process where the unforeseen consequences that might ensue from poorly-written policies can be corrected. With hundreds of pages of thoughtful discussion and analysis, it is difficult not to agree with the author's thoroughly reasonable conclusions; especially on the many specific points where a general consensus has been reached.
I highly recommend this outstanding book to everyone.
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2014
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2018
The authors give a ton of factual information in the book. The book is easy to read.
The authors give their opinions at the end of the book. All 3 differ. They also jointly give parameters at the end of the book regarding what controls they believe there should be with legalization. They believe that there should be significantly more control with legalization than there currently has been in any of the states that have legalized with the exception of Vermont.
I would highly recommend the book. It is written by public policy experts who do not have a particular dog in the marijuana legalization fight. It is balanced and will help readers understand the different types of plans that one could use when legalizing marijuana. So far, in all states except Vermont, it has been one size fits all. But there are other ways to do this and the authors do a good job at describing these other ways.
Unless you already know a good amount about this topic, you will come away knowing a lot more.
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2014
The economics were fascinating to work through as well. The revenue potential is not as cut and dry. The book also covers the middle ground well and shows most of the benefits that support legalization can be had with fewer risks.
Some form of legalization will occur and Colorado will help work through the laws for the rest of the United States. As for now, we need to decriminalize use nationally.
