Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know® 1st Edition

by Jonathan P. Caulkins (Author), Angela Hawken (Author), Beau Kilmer (Author),

41 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0199913732

ISBN-10: 0199913730

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Should marijuana be legalized? The latest Gallup poll reports that exactly half of Americans say "yes"; opinion couldn't be more evenly divided.

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

From Booklist

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. --Rebecca Vnuk

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Product details

Series: What Everyone Needs to Know
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (July 13, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0199913730
ISBN-13: 978-0199913732
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 0.6 x 5.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 41 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,124,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #256 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > Cultural Policy
- #1134 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > Social Policy
- #1620 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Criminology

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reader from Peoria

The title of the book is very accurate; the book also is very factual.

June 26, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have just read the book. I am very knowledgeable about the scientific research on the effects of marijuana.

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.

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A well balanced book about the advantages and disadvantages

July 20, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

There are many books and other sources of information with strong points of view, pro and con, for legalization of marijuana. There are precious few that give a balanced view on both sides of the issue, and this one is essential reading for anyone who wants to be informed, who hasn't already made up their minds.

Some of the facts covered here:

Americans are increasingly open to the idea. Rasmussen released a poll in May, 2012 which found that 56 percent of Americans were in favor of "legalizing marijuana and regulating it in a similar manner to the way alcohol and tobacco cigarettes are regulated today." Older Americans tended to be much more negative than younger Americans, so it may be that the pressure to legalize will continue to grow.

A key analysis: legal Marijuana might be incredibly cheap. As the authors point out, marijuana is a nonperishable bulk commodity like wheat, corn, coffee and tea. For those kinds of commodities, cost of production is the key driver. Modern American agriculture and its related packaging and transportation methods are incredibly efficient, especially on a large scale and in areas conducive to large yields.

Canada produces industrial hemp industry for about $500 per acre. If mid-grade commercial marijuana (a similar plant) could be grown at that cost, the price to the consumer would be about 20 cents per pound. Better grades of marijuana would cost more; as the authors write: "production costs for crops that need to be transplanted, such as cherry tomatoes and asparagus, are generally in the range of $5,000-$20,000 per acre." Those more labor intensive crops suggest a consumer price of under $20 per pound to less than $5 a pound depending on quality. Those prices compare with price of "other legal herbs such as tea or tobacco ... 100 times lower than the current prevailing price of $300 per ounce --- or a few cents per joint."

Whether you support or oppose legalization, this data is useful: increases in consumption might be very high, but tax revenues might be significantly higher as well. Federal cigarette taxes bring in about $10 billion a year, but the authors believe legalization couldn't yield revenues at that level.

Nonetheless, it is very helpful to have firm data from which to reach policy decisions, and the authors provide that sort of information -- not only on the costs of production and possible tax revenues, but on other possible benefits -- and disadvantages. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the issues.

Robert C. Ross
July 2012

Addendum: It may be worth mentioning that I have never used marijuana -- my drug of choice is five to ten glasses of red wine a week -- but the issue of legalization seems very important to me as a policy matter. R.

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Steve Zanto

This is a good book written by people who write for the RAND ...

December 30, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a good book written by people who write for the RAND corporation, a well known think tank, often employed by the government and other large organizations. It is thorough and a more scholarly writing than most books on marijuana. The authors point out many of the pros and cons that may be associated with marijuana legalization. In most cases they note that much of what is stated today by proponents as well as opponents of legalization is currently not able to be verified scientifically. They frequently use the phrase "unintended consequences" when talking about legalization. In one of the later chapters the four authors each summarize their own position. Only one would not legalize or make many changes to current laws the other three all would like to see changes made but each has concerns and each vary in his/her approach to legalization. I had previously read Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink (2nd edition) and this book, along with additional research tempered my views. I now would like to see the Federal government turn this question over to the states, and have the DEA reduce marijuana from its current Schedule 1 status to a Schedule 3, 4 or 5.

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Old Tim

Avery interesting book

September 18, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

In some ways I am not sure how to review this book. It reads more like a very critical piece with much discussion of addiction/dependance which the authors weave into most topics. While not addictive, a few people, especially young people, can certainly become dependent but it seemed to me cannabis dependence is over stated. I think one thing of value here is an honest discussion of some claims about the economics of legalization. However, having said that, I also think the authors give short shrift to hemp. The extrapolate from current use which does not strike me as valid. If hemp was legal, I believe many more uses as well as the economies of scale would result in a healthy, environmentally friendly industry. I recommend that those who advocate legalization as I do, should read this book so as to help keep their discussions more factual. If this review seems to vacillate between positive and negative it is because does but that's the value of the book.

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Amazon Customer

Just an excellent book!

October 27, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If you are at all interested in the implications of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, this book is a "must read." The authors describe the behavioral effects of marijuana, the harms, the various ways to ingest the drug, the medical benefits and the implications on driving after marijuana use. They bring us up-to-date on what has happened in the states that have legalized marijuana and make estimates for the future. Just an excellent book!

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