2025-06-12 –, BS 3.15 - 60 cap.
MOTIVATION. Most policy projections related to legalizing delta-9-THC—especially with respect to sales and revenues—exclusively focus on activities within the jurisdiction considering the policy change. While this made sense in the early days of legalization, the proliferation of legalization in the US and parts of Europe suggest that these analyses should also consider the cannabis policies of neighboring jurisdictions. An additional complication has been the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products (e.g., delta-8-THC, HHC), especially in the US and Europe. This presentation will highlight some of the empirical and analytic challenges these new complexities pose to researchers and policymakers.
SETTING. The US state of Indiana prohibits delta-9-THC for medical and nonmedical purposes. Three of its four neighboring states allow commercial sales of nonmedical cannabis and intoxicating hemp products are legally sold throughout the state (e.g., gas stations).
METHODS. Extending work by Caulkins et al. (2015), the paper begins by creating a conceptual framework for thinking about alternatives to cannabis supply prohibition when intoxicating hemp products are legal. To inform this framework and conduct policy analyses of various options, this paper takes a mixed methods approach, using 1) semi-structured interviews with key informants in Indiana and other states, 2) quantitative analyses of survey data, and 3) a review of the literature and media reports.
RESULTS. These interviews and analyses are in progress.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS. These insights should be useful for researchers and policymakers projecting the consequences of legalizing delta-9-THC in Indiana and in other jurisdictions inside and outside the US.
Beau Kilmer, RAND
Wendy Hawkins, RAND
Greg Midgette, RAND
Beau Kilmer (he/him) is codirector of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, a senior policy researcher at RAND, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
His research lies at the intersection of public health and public safety, with special emphasis on substance use, illegal markets, crime control, and public policy. Some of his current projects include assessing the consequences of cannabis legalization (with a special focus on social equity); measuring the effect of 24/7 Sobriety programs on impaired driving, domestic violence, and mortality; analyzing changes in illegal fentanyl markets; and considering the implications of legalizing psychedelics.
Kilmer's publications have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Science. His commentaries have been published by CNN, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, among others. Two editions of his coauthored book on cannabis legalization were published by Oxford University Press; his coauthored book on the future of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids was published by RAND.
Kilmer is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Public Health Consequences of Changes in the Cannabis Policy Landscape. In 2023, he was elected as vice president of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. He received his Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University, M.P.P. from UC-Berkeley, and B.A. in international relations from Michigan State University.