Felipe Goncalves

University of California, Los Angeles Website

Felipe Goncalves is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University.

Voting History

Marijuana reform

Pardoning federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana will have meaningful social benefits that exceed any social costs.

Vote Confidence
Agree 10
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 8
Comments

I support the policy, but the impact will be very small. There are few standalone federal convictions for marijuana possession.

Pardoning state convictions for simple possession of marijuana will have meaningful social benefits that exceed any social costs.

Vote Confidence
Agree 7
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 8
Comments

Many more people have state-level convictions for marijuana possessions, so the social benefits are potentially very large. My best guess on the potential social costs is that they would be small. The early literature on marijuana legalization has found small impacts on crime, and there may even be reductions if police shift their enforcement to more serious offending.

Moving marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a less-restrictive schedule or legalizing it at the federal level would have meaningful social benefits that exceed any social costs.

Vote Confidence
Agree 7
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 8
Comments