Change Is in the Air: The Smell of Marijuana, after Legalization

Abstract

Marijuana continues to be legalized throughout the world. In the United States, a unique approach to legalization is taking hold that focuses on the creation of commercial marijuana markets. This article examines the everyday realities of this approach to legalization through a focus on one of marijuana’s most legally significant attributes: its smell. In the context of prohibition, the smell of marijuana was a key tool of criminal law enforcement. In the context of legalization, its significance has expanded to include nuisance laws governing the presence of unwanted odors and commercial laws that facilitate economic activity in the marijuana market. By focusing on the sense of smell in the context of marijuana legalization, this article shows the implications of the market-based approach for drug policy reform. More broadly, this focus highlights the importance of the senses to sociolegal change and the ongoing construction of legality in the context of capitalism.

Sumptuary administration: How contested market actors shape the trajectory of policy when regulated under fragmented governance

“…Understanding legal consciousness remains a core focus of sociolegal scholarship (Chua & Engel, 2019; Ewick & Silbey, 1998; Garriott, 2020; Silbey, 2005). This article adds to this literature by considering how legal consciousness is produced when the normative processes of institutionalization are disrupted (Kinney & Rowland, 2021; Mair & Marti, 2009; Mair et al, 2012; Marti & Mair, 2009).…”

“…Several studies have outlined mechanisms that align state and private sector interests under similar contexts. For instance, state authorities can provide regulatory incentives to motivate lawful practice (Edelman & Stryker, 2005; Edelman & Suchman, 1997), and/or appropriate responsibilities back from private businesses to directly enforce the law as a form of coercive social control (Garriott, 2020; McKnight & Streff, 1994; Sallaz & Wang, 2016). Likewise, conformity can emerge as an instrumental response (Edelman et al, 1999; Talesh, 2009).…”

“…In essence, these studies apportion out evidence to what Garriott (2020, p. 1022) notes is the “hallmark of the U.S. approach” to transitioning toward a post‐legal cannabis market. By continually challenging the normative association between cannabis and criminality through marketization, distinct modes of legality become reoriented such that state authorities and private enterprise mutually engage in the coproduction of core market structures on the fly.…”

The Logic of NIMBYism: Class, Race, and Stigma in the Making of California’s Legal Cannabis Market

“…The fear of hypothetical loitering, unwanted odors, increased crime, health impacts, or property value decline justifies defensive strategies that city governments and residents use against cannabis companies. Local authorities and citizens adhere to legal means, such as zoning regulations and nuisance laws, to relegate cannabis dispensaries to industrial areas and economically depressed neighborhoods occupied primarily by racial and ethnic minorities (Holmes 2019; Garriott 2020). Similar reactions are observed in relation to other drug facilities that supposedly contaminate healthy environments, such as overdose prevention centers (Rouhani et al 2022), drug recovery homes (Eastman 1995) or needle distribution services (Davidson and Howe 2014).…”

Simple chemical tests to identify Cannabis derivatives: Redefinition of parameters and analysis of concepts

“…Cannabis decarboxylation is also a process commonly used before the production of edible derivatives [8]. It is interesting to note that the essential oils of the plant, which can be recognized by dogs during drug eradication operations [9], are lost during decarboxylation [5]. Thus, industries have already been developing methods to avoid the waste of this volatiles [10].…”