Page Text: Getting it Right from the Start
Advancing Public Health & Equity in Cannabis Policy
They say the devil is in the details.
We’re here to help.
(for FREE!)
In most states, cannabis legalization has focused mainly on creating a legal profit-making system rather than putting guardrails in place to promote public health, protect youth, and advance social equity. Our project works with jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis, or are considering legalizing it, to develop and share models for safer and more effective cannabis policy. We provide guidance on policies that can reduce harm, prevent problem cannabis use, and remedy the harms caused by the criminalization of cannabis. We take an evidence-based approach and draw on scientific research, cannabis policy analyses, and lessons from tobacco and alcohol control.
Cannabis Right to Know Act: Fact Sheets & Bill Language
February 2022
SB 1097 (Pan) Cannabis Right to Know Act will provide accurate, visible, and science-based health and safer-use warning labels allowing Californians to recognize a legal product more easily and make informed decisions when purchasing cannabis. Check out Getting it Right from the Start’s SB 1097 Fact Sheet, our Where’s the Warning Label ? piece, and the most up to date Bill Language .
Opinion: California’s cannabis conundrum — protecting youth or corporate profit?
By Dr. Lynn Silver of Getting it Right from the Start, San Jose Mercury News, February 12, 2022
In recent weeks, California’s $5 billion legal cannabis industry has engaged in an all-out blitz to convince state lawmakers to eliminate taxes on growers and suspend certain retail taxes at the expense of public health — particularly youth. The industry’s story is more fiction than fact; their “legislative prescription” is driven by profit-seeking, not economic necessity.
Scorecards Reveal Pathway Forward for Cities and Counties
While legal cannabis sales in California are increasing dramatically, local policy efforts to protect youth and public health have lagged behind, according to a statewide study conducted by the Public Health Institute’s Getting it Right from the Start Project.
Access our most recent Webinar on Mobilizing Local Cannabis Tax Revenue in the COVID-19 Era
In 2018, 289, or 58% of California cities and counties legalized some form of commercial cannabis activity, including cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, retail or testing. Of those, at least 53% did not levy a tax. What legal limits have cities and counties adopted since California legalized marijuana use for adults, and to what extent do these legal limits incorporate public health recommendations and lessons from tobacco control?
Setting the Record Straight: Fact-Checking Claims About California’s Legal Cannabis Industry
Since late 2021, the California cannabis industry has stepped up its lobbying hard for reduced taxes and regulation. To support that goal, they have disseminated information that does not align with what the Public Health Institute’s (PHI) independent research demonstrates. This fact-check analyzes examples of claims appearing in the press. PHI’s research on this issue is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the University of California and tracks local laws, cannabis licenses, and market data.
Opinion: Fact Checking Misleading Claims that California’s Cannabis Industry Is Suffering
Times of San Diego, March 23, 2022
In their quest to expand the industry’s commercial footprint in cities and counties across the state, lobbyists have disseminated information that does not align with independent research conducted by the Public Health Institute , which tracks local laws, cannabis licenses, and market data. This data is supported by the National Institutes of Health and other research funders.
We have conveyed our research into best practices
Guidance on public health & equity measures that states, cities and counties should consider adopting if cannabis legalization is under consideration or has already occurred. Specific models appropriate for California cities and counties are available.
Utilizing the best scientific evidence, we draft model written and oral comments as well as sign-on letters to advocate for or against proposed cannabis policies.
Digestible key principles are available to help determine the next steps you can take to improve cannabis policies.
Program Goals
Support economic equity and social justice.
Avert the emergence of a powerful new tobacco-like industry
Protect public health.
Minimize problem cannabis use as well as the attendant health and social harms.
Mitigate the damage done by the war on drugs.
Prevent exacerbation of existing health inequalities that disproportionately affect economically disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations, such as low birth weight, poor mental health outcomes, and lower high school graduation rates.
Reach Us
Getting it Right from the Start
Public Health Institute
555 12th Street, Ste 290
Oakland, CA 94607