Cannabis Research Institute: Beyond Legalization: Designing Reform That Repairs Harm and Centers Communities

Cannabis legalization is too often debated in the abstract, but its design and its lived impact tell two different stories. In this session, Douglas Berman and Meredith McGee bring complementary perspectives on what cannabis reform actually accomplishes: how policy choices can advance the unfinished work of remedying harms from the war on drugs and how legalization is experienced by communities once it’s in place. Drawing on qualitative research across legalized states and decades of legal scholarship, the conversation explores what it takes to build cannabis policy that delivers on its public health and equity promises.

The session will include time for audience Q&A, offering participants an opportunity to engage directly with experts working at the intersection of law, public health, and cannabis policy.

Register for the Zoom event.

Presenter highlights:
Professor Douglas Berman, AB, JD, is the Newton D. Baker-Baker and Hostetler chair in law and executive director of the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, housed in the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University. Berman’s principal teaching and research focus is in the area of criminal law and criminal sentencing, though he also has teaching and practice experience in the fields of legislation and intellectual property.

Meredith McGee, MPH, is a public health researcher at the Parabola Center for Law and Policy, where she leads qualitative research on cannabis legalization in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her work focuses on how legalization is experienced by communities and how policy can better prioritize public health. She holds a master’s degree in public health from the Yale School of Public Health and writes publicly on regulated industries at Ground Level.