Date
2-28-2025
Department
Helms School of Government
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy (PhD)
Chair
Howard L. Cheek
Keywords
Marijuana legalization, drug task force programs, drug control federalism
Disciplines
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Kendal D., "Marijuana Legalization Policy and Federal Drug Task Force Programs: A Study of Drug Control Federalism" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6521.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6521
Abstract
The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine and understand the influence of state cannabis legalization measures on the drug enforcement function of federal and state-local investigators working in the DEA Task Force Program operating in states that have legalized marijuana. Since America is experiencing an ongoing drug epidemic, phenomena like state cannabis legalization measures may impact the efficacy of national drug control policy and worsen the crisis. This study and its findings are therefore important because federal drug task force programs underpin the conduct of America’s national drug control policy. Federalism and intergovernmental relations are used in this study as the conceptual frameworks to examine state marijuana control laws and the enforcement function of federal drug task force programs.
This dissertation analyzed six case studies comprising the DEA Task Force Program operating in four states that have legalized marijuana and two states with comprehensive cannabis prohibition laws. This study tested the hypothesis that states which are early adopters of marijuana legalization (Colorado and Washington) will have greater issues with drug enforcement than states that are later adopters (Virginia and Missouri) and non-adopters (Idaho and Nebraska). Testing this hypothesis involved measuring the effect of state marijuana laws on the drug enforcement function of each DEA Task Force Program in this study by analyzing their drug enforcement output data (drug seizures, drug arrests, drug convictions, and asset forfeitures) to develop comparable thematic concepts among the cases and identify directional trends in the datasets following enactment of cannabis control measures. These datasets were collected from various public databases and involved undertaking thematic within-case analyses followed by cross-case and across-group comparisons of the findings. This study’s findings suggest early adopters do not have greater issues with drug enforcement than late adopters and non-adopters.
