Increased drugged driving, greater youth access to marijuana and insufficient officer training are a few of the concerns expressed by police officers in the first state to legalize recreational cannabis sales to adults. While the officers did not support recriminalization, they noted several issues with the implementation of Washington state’s 2012 law legalizing cannabis, according to a new study by Washington State University researchers.

Craig Hemmens.
Hemmens

“The purpose of our study was to add a key stakeholder’s voice to the conversation—that of police officers,” said Craig Hemmens, WSU professor of criminal justice and criminology who coauthored the study. “Officers in other states may find their thoughts useful as they transition to legalization.”

This project was supported by an award from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.

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