Introduction

In jurisdictions that have legalized recreational cannabis, perceptions of the ‘legal’ market may influence whether consumers transition from illegal retail sources. The current study examined consumer perceptions of legal versus illegal retail sources in 6 US states with legal retail sales as of 2018: Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State.

Methods

Data are from Wave 1 of the International Cannabis Policy Study, an online survey conducted in 2018 among 16–65-year-olds. US respondents were asked about cannabis consumption and perceptions of legal cannabis (n = 5530). Multinomial regression models were fitted for each of five consumer perception outcomes.

Results

Compared to illegal sources, at least one third of respondents perceived legal cannabis to be higher quality (37.6%) and safer to use (40.3%). More than half reported legal cannabis was more convenient to buy (59.2%) and safer to purchase (56.1%), whereas 30.6% of respondents perceived legal cannabis as more expensive. Perceptions varied according to the length of time since legal cannabis sales began: respondents living in more ‘mature’ legal markets were more likely to perceive legal cannabis as higher quality (AOR = 1.25, 99%CI = 1.07–1.46, p = 0.0003), less expensive (AOR = 1.20, 99%CI = 1.07–1.35, p < 0.0001), more convenient to buy (AOR = 1.36, 99%CI = 1.13–1.62, p < 0.0001) and safer to purchase (AOR = 1.21, 99%CI = 1.02–1.44, p = 0.0047).

Conclusions

With the notable exception of price, consumers reported generally positive perceptions of the legal cannabis market, with more positive perceptions in US states with more ‘mature’ legal markets.

中文翻译：

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在合法的大麻销售中，消费者对美国各州“合法”和“非法”大麻的看法。

介绍

在已将休闲大麻合法化的司法管辖区中，对“合法”市场的看法可能会影响消费者是否从非法零售渠道过渡。本研究调查了截至2018年美国合法零售的6个州的消费者对合法零售来源和非法零售来源的看法：阿拉斯加，加利福尼亚州，科罗拉多州，内华达州，俄勒冈州和华盛顿州。

方法

数据来自《国际大麻政策研究》第一波，该研究于2018年对16至65岁的青少年进行了在线调查。向美国受访者询问了有关大麻消费和合法大麻的认识（n = 5530）。针对五个消费者感知结果中的每一个拟合多项式回归模型。

结果

与非法来源相比，至少三分之一的受访者认为合法大麻的质量更高（37.6％）且使用更安全（40.3％）。超过一半的报告称合法大麻更方便购买（59.2％），更安全购买（56.1％），而30.6％的受访者认为合法大麻更贵。自从开始合法大麻销售以来的时间长短，知觉有所不同：生活在“成熟的”合法市场中的被调查者更有可能认为合法大麻的质量更高（AOR = 1.25，99％CI = 1.07-1.46，p = 0.0003） ，价格便宜（AOR = 1.20，99％CI = 1.07–1.35，p <0.0001），购买更方便（AOR = 1.36，99％CI = 1.13–1.62，p <0.0001），并且购买更安全（AOR = 1.21） ，99％CI = 1.02-1.44，p = 0.0047）。

结论

除了价格的显着例外，消费者对合法大麻市场的总体评价是积极的，而在拥有“成熟”合法市场的美国各州，消费者的评价也更为积极。