Medical Marijuana's Built Environment: Dispensary Locations and Patient Access

• In Event: Medicaid and Drug Policy

Abstract

Starting in 1996, medical marijuana policies have been passed and adopted in thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia. But these popular and quickly diffusing policies are implemented in myriad ways. Most notably, the percent of residents enrolling as patients in the programs varies markedly. Much of this variation is explained by the extent to which medical cannabis is available and affordable. In this project, we seek to better understand how the physical location of dispensaries impacts access to medical marijuana. This joins two important social determinants of health – built environment and health care access – in explaining unequal access to a stigmatized, but efficacious, treatment.

This research project aims to develop a comprehensive digital twin of the state of Ohio, which we call the Ohio-KWG, by adapting key functionalities from KnowWhereGraph (KWG).
The Ohio-KWG is designed to represent Ohio at various levels of abstraction and granularity across geospatially-oriented themes, with a specific focus on addressing critical factors such as social determinants of health, environmental data, transportation dynamics, and so on. Our study of Ohio is a starting point for developing a broader method to analyze the implementation of medical marijuana policies. It also has implications for how other health policy scholars examine the effects of policy choices on health outcomes. Moreover, our analysis can provide insights for lawmakers, caretakers, patients, and members of the industry in better understanding how to effectively implement a medical marijuana program that is equitable and accessible. The choices lawmakers make about how to regulate dispensaries ultimately affect who does and who does not have access to medical marijuana.

Authors

• Lee Hannah, Wright State University

• Cogan Shimizu, Wright State University

• Rakesh Kandula, Wright State University

• Daniel J Mallinson, Penn State, Harrisburg