Rosanna Smart
Rosanna Smart is Economist at the RAND Corporation and Affiliate Faculty at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Voting History
Marijuana reform
Pardoning federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana will have meaningful social benefits that exceed any social costs.
| Vote | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Disagree | 8 |
| Median Survey Vote | Median Survey Confidence |
|---|---|
| Agree | 8 |
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
This would likely affect a much broader set of individuals, although the extent to which meaningful social benefits derive will depend on the extent to which convictions are fully expunged, processes for doing so (e.g., automatic or individual must apply), and the share of people with only simple possession of marijuana convictions on their records. Social costs will also depend on these factors (e.g., costs for verifying eligibility and sealing or expunging records) but are likely minimal.
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 |
|---|---|
| Neutral/No Opinion | 2 |
| Median Survey Vote | Median Survey Confidence |
|---|---|
| Agree | 8 |
Comments
I can’t answer this because the HOW here is so important. The impacts of rescheduling are going to be fundamentally different than the impacts of federal legalization that (for example) allows commercial cultivation and retail sales, interstate commerce, etc. The likely effects of federal legalization itself will hinge critically on how the legal regime is designed and regulated as these specifics will shape price/availability, potency/product variety, and the functioning of illegal markets.
Comments
Given relatively few people are convicted of simple possession of marijuana at the federal level, this is unlikely to produce large benefits. Without expungement, labor market costs/barriers associated with a criminal conviction are unlikely to be meaningfully affected. While prior research shows federal signals can have important affects on state cannabis markets, this signal is likely not meaningful enough to generate large changes. Overall, both benefits and costs are likely small.