Robert MacCoun

ACLU: Blacks busted for marijuana at much higher rates than whites

Robert MacCoun quoted in CNN, June 6, 2013

Robert MacCoun, professor of public policy and law at the University of California at Berkeley, says arrests don’t prevent marijuana use. “These arrests rarely result in prosecution, and there is no basis for believing this is a deterrent,” he told CNN. “It’s hard to see the purpose being served. The only use I can see is putting certain people, and in this case young black men, on notice. When you look at the statistical pattern, it’s hard not to see this as racial profiling.”

Men in uniform

Robert MacCoun quoted in Slate, April 29, 2013

Robert MacCoun, who contributed to a RAND Corp. study that the Pentagon commissioned when it first considered openly gay service in 1993…. concluded that “it is task cohesion, not social cohesion or group pride, that drives group performance. This conclusion is consistent with the results of hundreds of studies in the industrial-organizational psychology literature.” In other words, it’s a myth that group members have to share the same values, or even like each other, to work together effectively.

Hazy future: new opportunities and conflicts for Marijuana legalization in CA

Robert MacCoun interviewed by KALW, City Visions, January 14, 2013

“At the heart of all of this is the Controlled Substance Act which states that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance, meaning that it has no legitimate medical use. So the federal-state conflict really comes down to a now fairly old federal law that conflicts with what the states are trying to do. The choice that the federal government faces … is how aggressively to reconcile that by forcing states to comply with federal law.”

Can Los Angeles ban medical marijuana shops? Voters set to decide.

Robert MacCoun quoted in The Christian Science Monitor, September 18, 2012

The law states that marijuana “has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and “there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision,” says Robert MacCoun….”Clearly marijuana is accepted as a medical treatment by many physicians, but that’s what the law says, so unless marijuana is rescheduled, state and federal officials will be at odds over this policy.”

Poll shows strong support for legal marijuana: Is it inevitable?

Robert MacCoun quoted in The Christian Science Monitor, May 23, 2012

Some states may legalize marijuana soon, perhaps as early as this November, says Robert MacCoun…. That means it is time to consider shifting the debate from legalization to consideration of how it should be done. “For example, if we tax and regulate, should we tax by weight or should we tax by THC content to discourage the most potent products?” he asks.

Robert MacCoun Explains Crackdown on Cannabis Sales

KALW News on SFGate.com, December 1, 2011 by Ben Trefny
http://blog.sfgate.com/kalw/2011/12/01/what-will-happen-to-californias-medical-marijuana-industry/

“While they don’t think medical marijuana patients should be a high priority for prosecution, trafficking of marijuana or profiteering for medical marijuana is still on the table as a legitimate use of their resources, and they make quite clear that they are going to reserve the right to be tough.”