CFP: Special Issue on Cannabis Policy and Public Administration

Public Administration Quarterly Call for Papers

Cannabis Policy in the United States: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Administration

Guest Editors: Dan Mallinson (Penn State Harrisburg) and Lee Hannah (Wright State)

A serious reconsideration of the fifty-year War on Drugs is building in the United States. The states have been strong drivers of the liberalization of drug policy since California adopted the first comprehensive medical cannabis program in 1996. To date, 38 states have comprehensive medical cannabis programs and 19 have adult-use recreational. Liberalization is now in the process of expanding with consideration and adoption of broad decriminalization measures and medicinal psylocibin mushroom programs. Of course, cannabis, and a range of other drugs, remain federally prohibited under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The federal government has been fickle in its enforcement of the CSA, which has led to confusion and uncertainty in the nascent, but substantial, industry (Mallinson, Hannah, and Cunningham 2020, Adler 2020).

The defiant adoption and implementation of drug liberalization laws offers rich ground for testing and building public policy and public administration theory. Alas, research within both policy and administration journals remains scant (Shafi and Mallinson Under Review). Researchers have used cannabis/drug policy to test policy diffusion theory (Hannah and Mallinson 2018, Johns 2015) and federalism (Christensen and Wise 2009, Mallinson and Hannah 2020), which are naturally apparent fits, but also collaborative governance (Raab and Milward 2003, Waardenburg et al. 2020), performance-based management (Simeone, Carnevale, and Millar 2005), and institutional design (Meier and Smith 1994). 

We contend that there are far more interesting questions regarding cannabis policy in the United States and its impact on public administration than have been touched by policy and administration scholars. The aim of this special issue is to foster greater attention to cannabis policy research within public administration. While cannabis lends itself to puns and plays on words about drug culture, we prefer titles and approaches that do not reinforce stereotypes or diminish the seriousness of cannabis policy. It is a significant industry that is reshaping American drug policy and requires rigorous social science research for understanding its implications on citizens and governance.

We are open regarding topics, if the research is engaging with cannabis policy and its implications for administration. For example, multiple articles have noted the substantial variation in policy design across state cannabis programs (Caulkins et al. 2012, Klieger et al. 2017, Pacula, Hunt, and Boustead 2014, Pacula et al. 2015), but what effects do those design differences have on implementation and outcomes? How do federal restrictions affect different populations that can benefit from state-legal cannabis programs (e.g., veterans)? Why is ensuring social equity so difficult and what are possible solutions?

We are agnostic in terms of a specific approach to the articles, but they all must advance the study of cannabis policy. We certainly invite empirical pieces (quantitative or qualitative), but also review, conceptual, and measurement pieces.

Timeline: Abstracts are due to Dan (mallinson@psu.edu) and Lee (lee.hannah@wright.edu) by December 1, 2021. Full manuscript submissions are due March 1, 2022. Please follow the instructions for submission from PAQ (https://paq.spaef.org/submission) and indicate in your cover letter that your submission is for the special issue on cannabis policy and administration. We will work to facilitate reviews within PAQ’s typical five week goal, with the aim of producing the final issue in summer or fall 2022.