1. College of Social Sciences and Policy
Florida State University
Policy Pub: Medical Marijuana and Same Sex Marriage: Understanding State Choices
Presented by:
Dr. Frances Berry
Askew Eminent Scholar
Askew School of Public Administration and Policy

2. Topics to Discuss
First Question: Why Discuss State Medical Marijuana Law and Same Sex Marriage Laws in the same presentation? What do they have in common?
Answer: Comparative studies of state policy innovation and diffusion help us understand the factors that lead states to adopt certain policies
The findings I discuss in these two studies are dissertations by Dr. Gook Jin Kim and Dr. Suk Joon Huang that I was major professor for in 2016.

3. Topics to Discuss: One Policy Topic at a Time
State laws regarding same sex marriage and medical marijuana have been changing fast. How have state laws differed in each policy area?
What are the causes of these policy changes? ; or
How do we explain state variation in adopted laws ?
Conflicts between federal and state laws and the impacts of court decisions in these policy areas.

4. Public Opinion has changed on legalizing marijuana
In 1980, 27% of voting Americans supported some legalizanoi
In 2011, 40% did
In % did
In 2017 (July) 61% did

5. 24 Legal Medical Marijuana States and D.C.
Year (N)
States
1996 (1)
California
1998 (3)
Alaska, Oregon, Washington
1999 (1)
Maine
2000 (3)
Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada
2004 (2)
Montana, Vermont
2006 (1)
Rhode Island
2007 (1)
New Mexico
2008 (1)
Michigan
2010 (3)
Arizona, New Jersey, D.C.
2011 (1)
Delaware
2012 (2)
Massachusetts, Connecticut
2013 (2)
Illinois, New Hampshire,
2014 (3)
Maryland, Minnesota, New York

6. Update to state map
In states have made marijuana legal for recreational use
In 2017, 29 states and the District of Columbia have laws broadly legalizing marijuana in some form, mostly medical marijuana use.
Sen Corey Booker has introduced a bill in the Senate to legalize marijuana and expunge federal marijuana convictions. Maareijuana would be removed from the Controlled Substances Act and out of the DEA jurisdiction.

7. Arguments about medical marijuana
Opponents
Proponents
Police Unions
Prison Guard Unions
Religious Groups
School Teachers Groups
Parents Groups
Patients (ex. Cancer, AIDS)
National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Law
Marijuana Policy Project
Patients’ right: The right to be pain free
Economic benefits
Tax revenue
Creating jobs
Helping to solve the prison-overcrowding problem

8. What are some of the reasons states might adopt Medical Marijuana laws?

9. Reasons Why States Might Adopt MM marijuana laws:
Citizen Forces
**Patients (HIV/AIDS & Cancer)
Political Forces
**Libertarian Vote
**State Government Ideology (Liberal vs. Conservative)
Legislative vs. Initiative Laws

10. Reasons Why States Might Adopt MM marijuana laws:
Religious Fundamentalist population
Fiscal Health of the State Government
Unemployment Rate
Incarceration Rate
Cost of the Justice System
Neighboring States which have adopted MM
Marijuana Users
Percent of the population between 15 and 44

11. Which do you think are most powerful?
What are some of the reasons states might adopt Medical Marijuana laws?
Which do you think are most powerful?

12. Key role of the ballot initiative process
We ran a multivariate model using state adoptions of Medical Marijuana From 1996 to 2013 (18 years)
Findings:
The largest predictor of passing MM laws was the number of marijuana users in the state.
Percentage of the state population claiming their religion is Religious Fundamentalism
Key role of the ballot initiative process

13. Explanations with No Impact
Government ideology (liberal vs. conservative)
Proportion of libertarian voters
The number of AIDS and cancer patients
The fiscal health of the state government
Race
Educational Attainment
The cost of the criminal justice system
The strictness of sentencing laws for drug use
Rate of incarceration in the state
Proportion of state population who are years old

14. Economic Arguments that might influence further diffusion of legalizing medical marijuana
The industry had the potential to create not only 1,500 direct jobs for marijuana growers and dispensary employees but up to 5,000 indirect jobs at places like grocery stores (Timonthy, 2013)
Jeffrey A. Miron (2003, p. 11) said “The repeal of marijuana laws combined with the elimination of enforcement activities would save Massachusetts governments roughly $120.6 million in expenditure annually”. The savings would be in the courts ($68.5 million), police ($40.3 million) and corrections ($13.6 million).
Prisons in 17 of the states were over capacity in 2014: The proponents assert that the legalizing medical marijuana solve the prison-overcrowding problem and also cost of incarceration by eliminating tough criminal penalties for smoking marijuana.
In Colorado, dispensaries brought in nearly $200 million in sales and paid about $5.5 million in state sales tax in 2015,

15. REINFOCEMENT OR BACKLASH OR NOTHING?
WHAT ROLE DID FEDERAL COURTS LAY IN THE LEGALIZATION AND DIFFUSION OF SAME SEX MARRIAGE BANS?
REINFOCEMENT OR BACKLASH OR NOTHING?

16. A Brief History of Same Sex Marriage Bans in the U.S.
Federal Legislation on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was passed in 1996 banning same sex couples from marrying.
The U.S. Supreme Court guaranteed the constitutional right for same sex couples in marry in all 50 states by its decision (Obergefell v Hodges) in June
Prior to that decision, same sex marriage had been legalized by state court decisions in 26 states among the 37 states with legal SSMs.

17. Possible Role of the Courts in the Policy Process and in state SSM Bans
1. The Backlash Thesis: When courts found same sex marriages were legal (or struck down same sex marriage bans) this would lead state law makers in conservative states, to enact more state laws or constitutional amendments to ban SSMs.
2. Judicial Activism: States respond to federal court decisions and enact laws in keeping with the judicial decisions.

18. Findings from the Study on Federal Courts influence on SSM Bans
The federal Defense Against Marriage Act (DOMA) passed in 1996 banning same sex marriage was an influential factor in the process of diffusion of same sex marriage bans across states.
We found strong empirical support for the Backlash Thesis regarding the impact of judicial decisions for gay rights on state laws.
We found that when federal courts in a state struck down the SSM bans, in states where a majority of public opinion opposed legalizing same sex marriage, then states were more likely to pass a constitutional amendment banning SSM or pass a law making SSM illegal.

19. Findings from the Study on Federal Courts influence on SSM Bans
We found the number of supportive total court rulings for gay rights in a state has a negative relationship to the passage of a state constitutional amendment against same sex marriage.
The influence of a favorable state public opinion for same sex marriage reduces the probability that the state will adopt a ban of same sex marriage

20. Findings from the Study on Federal Courts influence on SSM Bans
We ran the same analysis using state Supreme Court decisions and found no impact on further state laws regarding same sex marriages.
At least on this policy issue: same sex marriage bans—the evidence shows many state laws do seem to support the Backlash Thesis.

21. Federalism and Policies
What legal conflicts existed between federal and state laws, and the impacts of court decisions in these policy areas?

22. Conflicts in State and Federal Laws
Our federal structure in the U.S. Constitution allows states to adopt policies outside of the exclusive areas reserved for the national government as long as they do not conflict with federal law;
If there are conflicts we revert to the supremacy clause. Article 6, Section 8 states that "the Constitution and the national government's laws shall be the Supreme law of the land, and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or the laws of any state to the contrary not withstanding."

23. Conflicts in State and Federal Laws: Medical Marijuana
What are the state/federal policy conflicts with medical marijuana?
Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance; has a high likelihood of addiction and no demonstrated medical use is established; with mandatory minimum sentences upon conviction.
At the end of the year 2014, Congress passed the federal spending bill (House Amendment 272), which contains protections for medical marijuana and industrial hemp operations in states where they are legal

24. Conflicts in State and Federal Laws: Same Sex Marriage Bans
What were the state/federal conflicts with the same sex marriage bans many states adopted?
A. State laws were passed similar to the federal DOMA,
B. State Supreme Court rulings finding these state laws unconstitutional under state constitutions and their equal protection clauses, and
C. states passing laws allowing same sex marriages after DOMA was enacted..
When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage (DOMA) Law in 2015 in the case, then all state laws banning same sex marriages were found to be unconstitutional

25. Thanks for your attention: Q and A!
Questions for the Audience:
Why do you think states are legalizing medical marijuana? Do you think this is a good thing or not?
Do you think the federal government will take Marijuana off the Schedule I list of drugs?