Good Ventures awarded $103,000 to the RAND Corporation to produce a report for the state of Vermont about the consequences of legalizing marijuana. This grant is part of the Open Philanthropy Project’s ongoing investigation of criminal justice reform as a possible focus area, and it follows on Good Ventures’ previous grants in the area of drug policy reform.
In May 2014, the Governor of Vermont signed a bill into law requiring the state’s Secretary of Administration to produce a report about the consequences of legalizing marijuana. This put Vermont in the position of being able to examine other jurisdictions’ experiences with marijuana regulation to inform future discussions about its own marijuana policy. The Secretary selected the RAND Drug Policy Research Center to conduct this study on behalf of the State of Vermont. While parts of this study will be tailored to Vermont, we believe that the insights and results will also be useful to policymakers and voters in other jurisdictions that are considering alternatives to marijuana prohibition.