Up in Smoke: Two Theoretical Perspectives on the Future of Marijuana Law in the United States

The ambiguity of marijuana law in the United States is creating a true state of social anomie for U.S. citizens. Using survey data from the General Social Survey from the University of California, Berkeley, binary logistical regression is employed to find which of the independent variables compiled, age, income, race, region, and sex, have an impact on the dependent variable, attitudes toward marijuana legalization. Through this analysis, two theories are utilized, Richard Quinney’s critical theory of crime and normative theory of law, to outline predictors for the future legalization of marijuana in the U.S. The findings show that while neither theory outlines a clear path to marijuana legalization, Quinney’s critical theory of crime can assist in understanding why marijuana has not yet been legalized in the U.S.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Montana

Year

2012

Author dc:creator

• Fawaz, Michael P.

• Critical Theory
• Marijuana Law
• Normative Theory
• GSS
• Marijuana

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/1152

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-2171