Locations of licensed and unlicensed cannabis retailers in California: A threat to health equity?

Abstract

This study examined whether unlicensed and licensed cannabis retailers in California are disproportionately located in neighborhoods with minority populations or populations living below the Federal Poverty Level. We mapped the locations of licensed and unlicensed cannabis retailers in California in October 2018, combining advertisements from cannabis websites with licensing data. Demographic characteristics of neighborhoods with and without licensed and/or unlicensed cannabis retailers were compared. We identified 1110 cannabis retailers in California (448 licensed and 662 unlicensed). Relative to neighborhoods without retailers, neighborhoods with retailers had higher proportions of Hispanics, African Americans, and residents living below the poverty level. Compared with neighborhoods with only licensed retailers, neighborhoods with only unlicensed retailers had higher proportions of Hispanics and African Americans, and lower proportions of non-Hispanic whites. Neighborhoods with both licensed and unlicensed retailers had higher proportions of African Americans, Asian Americans, and people living in poverty, relative to neighborhoods with only licensed retailers. Unlicensed retailers were disproportionately located in unincorporated areas and jurisdictions that allow cannabis retailers. Minority populations in California are disproportionately exposed to unlicensed cannabis retailers, potentially exacerbating health disparities by selling unregulated products or selling to minors.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Cannabis Use Following Legalization in US States With Medical Cannabis Laws

“…9,10 Communities of color (Black and Hispanic populations, as well as some Asian subgroups) may be more likely than White populations to experience negative consequences of legalization, including increased frequent cannabis use and CUD. 11 Such unintended consequences could occur because of structural factors informed by the legacies of US racism, for example locating dispensaries (which have been tied to increased CUD 12,13 ) in neighborhoods with a majority racial or ethnic minority population.…”

Impact of California’s tobacco and cannabis policies on the retail availability of little cigars/cigarillos and blunt wraps

“…The estimates of our two cannabis measures, policy and accessibility, were inconsistent with findings on sales of blunt wraps in legalized 2 population size was used instead of population density because the latter could not be determined for unincorporated areas of a jurisdiction that are noncontiguous; 3 percent households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits; 4 includes some LTRs in jurisdictions that also restricted cannabis advertising (n = 202); 5 minimum pack size of five, ten or twenty LCCs; 6 percent difference in the increase (+) and decrease (-) in retail availability from 2016 to 2019; cannabis markets (Giovenco et al, 2018) and locations of cannabis retailers in California (Unger et al, 2020). Unger et al (2020) reported that among geographic service areas in California (2.5 mile radius), a higher percentage of those with a cannabis retailer were below the federal poverty line (18.1% vs. 12.9%, p < .001); LTRs in such areas frequently market and sell cigarillos. One might surmise that our unexpected finding was a function of the negative correlation between tobacco and cannabis restrictions in the jurisdictions where LTRs were sampled.…”

“…The locations of cannabis retailers throughout California were obtained by co-authors (JBU, ROV) who collected the data in October, 2018 as part of another study (Unger et al, 2020). Unger et al (2020) identified licensed retailers (n = 448) from the Bureau of Cannabis Control and unlicensed retailers (n = 662) from a comprehensive search of the websites weedmaps.com and leafly.com. Among the cannabis businesses with a retail location, 47 were excluded because they only sold cannabis for medicinal purposes, yielding 1063 cannabis retailers for the analysis.…”

Licensed and unlicensed cannabis outlets in Los Angeles County: the potential implications of location for social equity

“…To better understand these trade-offs and improve equity within the cannabis industry, it is critical to know locations of both licensed and unlicensed outlets and how these locations have changed over time. Unger and colleagues examined whether licensed and unlicensed outlets were more common in high poverty and minority neighborhoods across California in 2018, the first year of legal cannabis sales (Unger et al 2020 ). In that year, unlicensed outlets were more common in Latinx neighborhoods in California, but no patterns were detected for licensed outlets (Unger et al 2020 ).…”

“…Unger and colleagues examined whether licensed and unlicensed outlets were more common in high poverty and minority neighborhoods across California in 2018, the first year of legal cannabis sales (Unger et al 2020 ). In that year, unlicensed outlets were more common in Latinx neighborhoods in California, but no patterns were detected for licensed outlets (Unger et al 2020 ). The present study builds on that analysis and adds to the sparse literature in this area by bolstering methods for identifying licensed and unlicensed outlets.…”