By Duane Stanton Sr.1 , Nicholas Lovrich, David Makin, Mary Stohr, Dale Willits, Craig Hemmens and Mikala Meize

In 2012, Washington State legalized recreational cannabis. The challenge of policing cannabis-related motor vehicle operator impairment emerged as an issue in the wake of legalization. There has been less focus on exploring the topic of boating under the influence (BUI), which is regrettable given the popularity of boating. The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators and the National Safe Boating Council (NASBLA), in concert with the U.S. Coast Guard, have identified cannabis-impaired boating as a major problem and are using resources from the Sports Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund to address it. To explore this topic, we conducted 17 semi-structured qualitative interviews with local and state law enforcement marine officers and their supervisors and trainers in Washington, as well as NASBLA-certified BUI trainers. These interviews explored the marine officers’ experiences since legalization, as well as their perceptions of marijuana legalization on public safety. Results drawn from the interviews indicate that marine officers are very concerned about the threats to public safety and responsible boating practices arising from cannabis-impaired boating and feel that enhanced training and funding is needed to better detect impairment and enforce BUI laws. Public policy, police training, and best practices implications arising from these interviews are discussed.

American Journal of Qualitative Research August 2020, Vol.4 No. 2, pp. 1-19,

By Daniel A. Sumner | Robin S. Goldstein

• Under US federal law, weed, also known as “marijuana” or “cannabis,” remains a Schedule I illegal narcotic, in the same category as cocaine and heroin. Production and sale of weed are federal felonies punishable by severe prison terms.

• Individual US states, in conflict with federal law, began legalizing medical weed in 1996. However, in the past decade, the US Department of Justice has agreed not to enforce federal criminal weed laws against anyone who is following state laws.

• As of 2022, 33 percent of all Americans live in states with legal recreational sales of weed, 41 percent live in states with medical legalization but no legal recreational sale, and 26 percent live in states with total weed prohibitions.

• In its early years, legally produced and sold weed has struggled to capture market share. In most places where the sale and use of weed are now legal, illegal weed—unlicensed, unregulated, and untaxed—still has a dominant market share and shows no signs of fading away.

Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 2022. 7p.

By Daniel A. Sumner | Robin S. Goldstein

Key Points

• Cannabis containing more than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which the US government still calls “marijuana” but here we call “weed,” has been legalized by many state governments but is still illegal at the federal level.

• If a major goal of federal legalization is to help legal weed replace illegal weed, the best step forward for federal policy is simply to step out of the way. This would involve removing weed from the schedule of illegal narcotics, permitting states to implement cannabis policy as they see fit, and allowing cannabis to move among jurisdictions where it is legal.

• Forms of federal legalization that include more regulations and taxes on cannabis—including House and Senate bills that have been recently publicized—would almost surely do more harm than good, given the state and local policies already in place.

Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 2022. 5p.