Introduction and Aims Little is known about the spatial distribution of medical marijuana dispensaries, particularly whether or not sites are disproportionately located in minority or communities with younger populations. This paper will assess if there is a relationship between medical marijuana dispensaries and neighborhood characteristics. Design and Methods This study used an ecological, cross-sectional design of 1000 Census tracts from Los Angeles city in 2012 to explore the relationship between neighbourhood sociodemographics, structural features of neighbourhoods and density of medical marijuana dispensaries. Locations of dispensaries were obtained through a premise survey of all listed dispensaries. Data on neighbourhood characteristics were obtained from Geolytics. The study used Bayesian conditionally autoregressive models that include controls for spatial heterogeneity to analyse the data. Results Findings show that dispensaries are located in areas that allow for commercial establishments. Results indicate a positive relationship between dispensaries and percent commercially zoned, areas with highway ramp access, density of on- and off-premise alcohol outlets and percent Hispanic residents. Discussion and Conclusions In sum, the findings suggest that, likely due to zoning regulations, dispensaries were located in primarily commercially zoned areas with greater road access (as measured by the presence of highway ramps). Given that areas with higher densities of dispensaries also have higher densities of alcohol outlets, future work should examine how this co-location affects neighbourhood problems such as crime and violence.

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Background The environments where parents spend time, such as at work, at their child's school, or with friends and family, may exert a greater influence on their parenting behaviors than the residential neighborhoods where they live. These environments, termed activity spaces, provide individualized information about the where parents go, offering a more detailed understanding of the environmental risks and resources to which parents are exposed. Objective This study conducts a preliminary examination of how neighborhood context, social processes, and individual activity spaces are related to a variety of parenting practices. Methods Data were collected from 42 parents via door-to-door surveys in one neighborhood area. Survey participants provided information about punitive and non-punitive parenting practices, the locations where they conducted daily living activities, social supports, and neighborhood social processes. OLS regression procedures were used to examine covariates related to the size of parent activity spaces. Negative binomial models assessed how activity spaces were related to four punitive and five non-punitive parenting practices. Results With regards to size of parents' activity spaces, male caregivers and those with a local (within neighborhood) primary support member had larger activity spaces. Size of a parent's activity space is negatively related to use of punitive parenting, but generally not related to non-punitive parenting behaviors. Conclusions These findings suggest social workers should assess where parents spend their time and get socially isolated parents involved in activities that could result in less use of punitive parenting.

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Venue-based sampling is the identification of, and outreach to, locations visited by the population of interest for the purpose of collecting data. The method is frequently used to reach specific populations, commonly referred to as “hidden populations.” Medical marijuana users represent a hidden population of persons who use marijuana for medicinal purposes. We examine whether venue-based procedures introduce selection or non-respondent bias into the study. The venue based sampling procedures employed for the UCLA Medical Marijuana Study used a two-stage, venue-based sampling approach. First, analyses were conducted to assess potential bias within dispensaries that agreed to participate in the surveys. Secondly, analyses were conducted to examine differences among patrons who responded to surveys. Overall, selection bias was generally absent among study results. Results also illuminated the minimal respondent bias observed among the survey respondents. Results suggest that the use of dispensaries to access and survey medical marijuana users is a viable option to gather patient information that adequately represents the greater population of medical marijuana users in Los Angeles. Thus, recommendations and conclusions based on findings from venue-based studies of medical marijuana users at dispensary sites serve to impartially inform meaningful research.