Policy Surveillance Methods and Monitoring Emerging Medical Marijuana Regimes

Twenty three states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana despite the drug remaining illegal at the federal level. State laws vary considerably, and the impact of disparate regulations demands rigorous analysis. Scientifically valid legal data is the starting point for evaluation of the health impact of laws, policies and their implementation.

This presentation announces the launch of Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System (PDAPS), a new NIDA funded resource for research on prescription drug abuse policies. Like the Alcohol Policy Information System, which has been used in more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, the Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System will provide researcher and public access to scientifically-built, longitudinal datasets of laws, regulations and other formalized policies. Datasets available include Good Samaritan 911 Immunity laws, Naloxone Prescription Laws, Prescription Drug Monitoring System Laws, and Medical Marijuana Laws.  The data, accompanied by codebooks and detailed research protocols are available for download and compatible with standard software for quantitative analysis. This presentation explores how to leverage this cutting edge resource, and invites researchers to build their own datasets.