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The research team tested educational messages in a survey of adults in New Jersey
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Cannabis regulators and public health professionals may be able to advance equity goals as part of cannabis legalization and repair some of the past harm caused by the War on Drugs by expanding public education campaigns to include equity messages, according to a new study from researchers at RTI International.
“Equity is now an explicit cannabis policy goal for some states. This study suggests that public education can help advance that goal,” said Jane Allen, a senior manager of public health at RTI and lead author of the study. “Public education is a compelling tactic because states legalizing cannabis are already investing in campaigns to educate the public about the law and promote safe consumption and storage practices.”
The research team conducted an online survey of nearly 900 New Jersey adults in August and September of 2021, just as New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission was publishing its first set of regulations for the legal sale and use of cannabis for adults 21 and older.
Half of respondents viewed an educational message about equity-focused cannabis policies before answering survey questions, and the other half did not. Equity-focused policies include expungement of cannabis-related arrest records and priority licensing and grants for people previously impacted by criminalization who want to participate in the legal cannabis industry.
Exposure to an educational message was associated with greater perceived importance of equity in cannabis policy and greater support for equity-focused policies. Specifically, participants who saw an educational message had greater agreement that New Jersey should provide priority licensing and grants to people harmed by past policies.
Few participants (24.9%) were already familiar with the concept of equity in cannabis policy, and a substantial proportion — from about 20% to 35% — provided a “neutral” or “don’t know” response when asked about support for specific policies.
