criminal offence. Moreover, the decriminalization of marijuana use without legalizing supply will reduce, if not completely eradicate, the non-monetary costs (risk of arrest and personal harm). Economic theory predicts that with the lessening or removal of these non-monetary costs, demand for marijuana will increase, causing an upward shift in its demand curve with little if any change in price236. Since the supply of marijuana remains illegal and presumably, law enforcement efforts against its production and sale unchanged, no significant change in the supply is expected [4] The Decriminalization Experience The magnitude of the resultant increase in demand will depend on the amount by which these nonmonetary costs fall and the users’ response to these decreases Such liberal legislative approaches to marijuana use can be found in countries such as Portugal (2001), Switzerland (2013), Australia (2014) and recently in Jamaica (2015), among a host of other countries. These legislative changes have had varied effects on price, consumption, law enforcement, and the other relevant areas. Impact on Price and Prevalence The literature shows that the impact of liberalization on marijuana use is somewhat uncertain. Portugal de-penalized marijuana, along with all psychoactive drugs in 2001. In their model, persons can possess up 25 grams of marijuana for personal use237. Since decriminalization, the data indicate that lifetime prevalence238 of marijuana use for students in the age group 16-18 years moved from 9.5% in 1999 19% in 2003 [7], while Hashish239 use among adults ages 15-64 years went from 3.3% in 2001 to 3.6% in 2007[8]. This suggests that the legislative change has had a more profound impact on the youth than on adults, at least in the short-run. Furthermore, while regular use of marijuana between 2001 and 2007 maintained stability, the data also suggested that the post-decriminalization initiation age fell and may explain the increase in the lifetime use prevalence [4]. Figure 1: Lifetime Marijuana Use Prevalence in Australia of Persons Age 14-40 (1985, 1998,
2007). Source: Bretteville-Jensen and Williams (2011)[9] Whereas the decriminalization regulations in Australia vary from territory to territory, generally, individuals are not persecuted for possessing small amounts of marijuana240 [10]. Here, decriminalization did not have a significant impact on the uptake, but the evidence suggests that the policy resulted in an increase in the number of Australians who have ever used marijuana. Between 1985 and 2007, two years before the first state in Australia decriminalized marijuana, the lifetime prevalence of persons age 14-40 years was 40%. By 2007, that figure had grown about 10 percentage Price will remain the same based on the assumption of an almost horizontal supply curve. This can be considered legalization of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. 238 Lifetime prevalence is the proportion of a population that at some point in their life (up to the time of assessment) have used marijuana at least once. 239 A drug made from the marijuana plant and usually smoked. 240 In western Australia that threshold amount is 10 grams. In southern Australia that amount is no more than100 grams; in the Northern Territories, no more than 50 grams and no more than 25 grams in the Capital Territories [40]. 236 237
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