Robert MacCoun
James and Patricia Kowal Professor, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Psychology
Stanford Law School
Academic Appointments
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Professor, Stanford Law School
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Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
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Professor (By courtesy), Psychology
Honors & Awards
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Open Science Champion Prize, Center for Open and Reproducible Science (2024)
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James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award for lifetime contributions to the application of psychology, Association for Psychological Science (2019)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Editor, Annual review of Law & Social Science (2018 - 2022)
2024-25 Courses
- Carrots, Sticks, Norms, and Nudges: Changing Minds and Behaviors
LAW 7501 (Aut) - Discussion (1L): Burdens of Proof in Law, in Science, and in Social Discourse
LAW 242B (Aut) - Elements of Policy Analysis
LAW 7846 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Law and Psychology
LAW 3518 (Spr) -
Independent Studies (1)
- Directed Research
LAW 400 (Aut)
- Directed Research
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- Elements of Policy Analysis
LAW 7846 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Empirical Legal Studies: Research Design
LAW 7510 (Aut) - Law and Psychology
LAW 3518 (Spr)
2022-23 Courses
- Carrots, Sticks, Norms, and Nudges: Changing Minds and Behaviors
LAW 7501 (Aut) - Elements of Policy Analysis
LAW 7846 (Aut)
2021-22 Courses
- Elements of Policy Analysis
LAW 7846 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Empirical Legal Studies: Research Design
LAW 7510 (Aut) - Law and Psychology
LAW 3518 (Spr)
- Elements of Policy Analysis
All Publications
- Third Millennium Thinking: Making Sense in a World of Nonsense Little, Brown. 2024
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BALANCING COMPASSION, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND CAUSAL CLARITY.
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
2020
View details for DOI 10.1111/add.15164
View details for PubMedID 32643245
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Behind Schedule - Reconciling Federal and State Marijuana Policy.
The New England journal of medicine
2018
View details for PubMedID 29996065
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Multiple gateways.
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
2018
View details for PubMedID 29573364
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Enhancing research credibility when replication is not feasible
BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES
2018; 41
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0140525X18000778
View details for Web of Science ID 000458790700057
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Enhancing research credibility when replication is not feasible.
The Behavioral and brain sciences
2018; 41: e142
Abstract
Direct replications are not always affordable or feasible, and for some phenomena they are impossible. In such situations, methods of blinded data analysis can help minimize p-hacking and confirmation bias, increasing our confidence in a study's results.
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0140525X18000778
View details for PubMedID 31064554
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How Medical Marijuana Smoothed the Transition to Marijuana Legalization in the United States.
Annual review of law and social science
2017; 13 (1): 181-202
Abstract
Public support for legalizing marijuana use increased from 25% in 1995 to 60% in 2016, rising in lockstep with support for same-sex marriage. Between November 2012 and November 2016, voters in eight states passed ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana sales for nonmedical purposes-covering one-fifth of the US population. These changes are unprecedented but are not independent of the changes in medical marijuana laws that have occurred over the past 20 years. This article suggests five ways in which the passage and implementation of medical marijuana laws smoothed the transition to nonmedical legalization in the United States: (a) They demonstrated the efficacy of using voter initiatives to change marijuana supply laws, (b) enabled the psychological changes needed to destabilize the "war on drugs" policy stasis, (c) generated an evidence base that could be used to downplay concerns about nonmedical legalization, (d) created a visible and active marijuana industry, and (e) revealed that the federal government would allow state and local jurisdictions to generate tax revenue from marijuana.
View details for DOI 10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-110615-084851
View details for PubMedID 34045931
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8152576
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COMPUTATIONAL MODELS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR
COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
2017: 258–80
View details for Web of Science ID 000445825500013
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Brains, environments, and policy responses to addiction.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
2017; 356 (6344): 1237–38
View details for PubMedID 28642399
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Commentary on Niesink et al. (2015): Interpreting trends in tetrahydrocannabinol potencythree stories, one of which may be true
ADDICTION
2015; 110 (12): 1951-1952
View details for DOI 10.1111/add.13170
View details for Web of Science ID 000364868900011
View details for PubMedID 26564524
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The Impact of Psychological Science on Policing in the United States: Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Effective Law Enforcement
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
2015; 16 (3): 75-109
View details for DOI 10.1177/1529100615617791
View details for PubMedID 26635334
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Hide results to seek the truth
NATURE
2015; 526 (7572): 187-189
View details for Web of Science ID 000362399000021
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Blind analysis: Hide results to seek the truth.
Nature
2015; 526 (7572): 187-189
View details for DOI 10.1038/526187a
View details for PubMedID 26450040
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Balancing evidence and norms in cultural evolution
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN DECISION PROCESSES
2015; 129: 93-104
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.09.009
View details for Web of Science ID 000358468800009
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Half-baked--the retail promotion of marijuana edibles.
New England journal of medicine
2015; 372 (11): 989-991
View details for DOI 10.1056/NEJMp1416014
View details for PubMedID 25760351
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The Epistemic Contract: Fostering an Appropriate Level of Public Trust in Experts
MOTIVATING COOPERATION AND COMPLIANCE WITH AUTHORITY: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL TRUST
2015; 62: 191-214
View details for DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16151-8_9
View details for Web of Science ID 000370256300010
View details for PubMedID 26410926
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NEW EVIDENCE ON THE TENUOUS STATE OF EVIDENCE-BASED DRUG POLICY
ADDICTION
2014; 109 (8): 1234-1235
View details for DOI 10.1111/add.12533
View details for Web of Science ID 000339476700005
View details for PubMedID 25041197
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Public Intuitions About Fair Child Support Allocations: Converging Evidence for a "Fair Shares" Rule
PSYCHOLOGY PUBLIC POLICY AND LAW
2014; 20 (2): 146-163
View details for DOI 10.1037/law0000003
View details for Web of Science ID 000335333000003
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Alternative maps of the world of collective behaviors
BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES
2014; 37 (1): 88-90
Abstract
I compare the collective behavior map proposed by Bentley et al. ("BOB" for short) with a similar "balance of pressures" (BOP) map proposed by MacCoun (2012). The BOB and BOP maps have important points of convergence, but also some differences. The comparison suggests that they are analogous to different map "projections" for maps of Earth - different ways of simplifying a complex reality.
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0140525X13001787
View details for Web of Science ID 000332474000044
View details for PubMedID 24572230
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Cheap talk and credibility: The consequences of confidence and accuracy on advisor credibility and persuasiveness
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN DECISION PROCESSES
2013; 121 (2): 246-255
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.02.001
View details for Web of Science ID 000320092200009
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Is the leniency asymmetry really dead? Misinterpreting asymmetry effects in criminal jury deliberation
GROUP PROCESSES & INTERGROUP RELATIONS
2012; 15 (5): 585-602
View details for DOI 10.1177/1368430212441639
View details for Web of Science ID 000308652000002
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RESPONSE TO COMMENTARIES
ADDICTION
2012; 107 (5): 876-877
View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03833.x
View details for Web of Science ID 000302344500007
View details for PubMedID 22471568
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Design considerations for legalizing cannabis: lessons inspired by analysis of California's Proposition 19
ADDICTION
2012; 107 (5): 865-871
Abstract
No modern jurisdiction has ever legalized commercial production, distribution and possession of cannabis for recreational purposes. This paper presents insights about the effect of legalization on production costs and consumption and highlights important design choices.Insights were uncovered through our analysis of recent legalization proposals in California. The effect on the cost of producing cannabis is largely based on existing estimates of current wholesale prices, current costs of producing cannabis and other legal agricultural goods, and the type(s) of production that will be permitted. The effect on consumption is based on production costs, regulatory regime, tax rate, price elasticity of demand, shape of the demand curve and non-price effects (e.g. change in stigma).Removing prohibitions on producing and distributing cannabis will dramatically reduce wholesale prices. The effect on consumption and tax revenues will depend on many design choices, including: the tax level, whether there is an incentive for a continued black market, whether to tax and/or regulate cannabinoid levels, whether there are allowances for home cultivation, whether advertising is restricted, and how the regulatory system is designed and adjusted.The legal production costs of cannabis will be dramatically below current wholesale prices, enough so that taxes and regulation will be insufficient to raise retail price to prohibition levels. We expect legalization will increase consumption substantially, but the size of the increase is uncertain since it depends on design choices and the unknown shape of the cannabis demand curve.
View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03561.x
View details for Web of Science ID 000302344500003
View details for PubMedID 21985069
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The Burden of Social Proof: Shared Thresholds and Social Influence
PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW
2012; 119 (2): 345-372
Abstract
Social influence rises with the number of influence sources, but the proposed relationship varies across theories, situations, and research paradigms. To clarify this relationship, I argue that people share some sense of where the "burden of social proof" lies in situations where opinions or choices are in conflict. This suggests a family of models sharing 2 key parameters, one corresponding to the location of the influence threshold, and the other reflecting its clarity--a factor that explains why discrete "tipping points" are not observed more frequently. The plausibility and implications of this account are examined using Monte Carlo and cellular automata simulations and the relative fit of competing models across classic data sets in the conformity, group deliberation, and social diffusion literatures.
View details for DOI 10.1037/a0027121
View details for Web of Science ID 000302968200005
View details for PubMedID 22352358
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Abstract Principles and Concrete Cases in Intuitive Lawmaking
LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
2012; 36 (2): 96-108
Abstract
Citizens awaiting jury service were asked a series of items, in Likert format, to determine their endorsement of various statements about principles to use in setting child support amounts. These twenty items were derived from extant child support systems, from past literature and from Ellman and Ellman's (2008) Theory of Child Support. The twenty items were found to coalesce into four factors (principles). There were pervasive gender differences in respondent's endorsement of the principles. More importantly, three of these four principles were systematically reflected, in very rational (if complex) ways, in the respondents' resolution of the individual child support cases they were asked to decide. Differences among respondents in their endorsement of these three principles accounted for differences in their patterns of child support judgments. It is suggested that the pattern of coherent arbitrariness (Ariely et al., Q J Econ 118(1):73-105, 2003) in those support judgments, noted in an earlier study (Ellman, Braver, & MacCoun, 2009) is thus partially explained, in that the seeming arbitrariness of respondents' initial support judgments reflect in part their differing views about the basic principles that should decide the cases.
View details for DOI 10.1037/h0093956
View details for Web of Science ID 000302725300003
View details for PubMedID 22471414
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What can we learn from the Dutch cannabis coffeeshop system?
ADDICTION
2011; 106 (11): 1899-1910
Abstract
To examine the empirical consequences of officially tolerated retail sales of cannabis in the Netherlands, and possible implications for the legalization debate.Available Dutch data on the prevalence and patterns of use, treatment, sanctioning, prices and purity for cannabis dating back to the 1970s are compared to similar indicators in Europe and the United States.The available evidence suggests that the prevalence of cannabis use among Dutch citizens rose and fell as the number of coffeeshops increased and later declined, but only modestly. The coffeeshops do not appear to encourage escalation into heavier use or lengthier using careers, although treatment rates for cannabis are higher than elsewhere in Europe. Scatterplot analyses suggest that Dutch patterns of use are very typical for Europe, and that the 'separation of markets' may indeed have somewhat weakened the link between cannabis use and the use of cocaine or amphetamines.Cannabis consumption in the Netherlands is lower than would be expected in an unrestricted market, perhaps because cannabis prices have remained high due to production-level prohibitions. The Dutch system serves as a nuanced alternative to both full prohibition and full legalization.
View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03572.x
View details for Web of Science ID 000296046000009
View details for PubMedID 21906196
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Assessing Drug Prohibition and Its Alternatives: A Guide for Agnostics
ANNUAL REVIEW OF LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, VOL 7
2011; 7: 61-78
View details for DOI 10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102510-105442
View details for Web of Science ID 000299297100004
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THE IMPLICIT RULES OF EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY ANALYSIS, UPDATED
ADDICTION
2010; 105 (8): 1335-1336
View details for Web of Science ID 000279719100006
View details for PubMedID 20653614
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Intuitive Lawmaking: The Example of Child Support
JOURNAL OF EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDIES
2009; 6 (1): 69-109
View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1740-1461.2009.01138.x
View details for Web of Science ID 000207806300003
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HARM REDUCTION IS A GOOD LABEL FOR A CRITERION ALL DRUG PROGRAMS SHOULD MEET
ADDICTION
2009; 104 (3): 341-342
View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02388.x
View details for Web of Science ID 000263132500005
View details for PubMedID 19207338
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Citizens' Perceptions of Ideological Bias in Research on Public Policy Controversies
POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
2009; 30 (1): 43-65
View details for Web of Science ID 000262513600003
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The benefits of knowing what you know (and what you don't): How calibration affects credibility
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
2008; 44 (5): 1368-1375
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.04.006
View details for Web of Science ID 000259162800018
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Bridging the gap between science and drug policy: From "what" and "how" to "whom" and "when"
BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES
2008; 31 (4): 454-?
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0140525X08004901
View details for Web of Science ID 000260783700045
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The implicit rules of evidence-based drug policy: A US perspective
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY
2008; 19 (3): 231-232
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.drugpo.2008.02.012
View details for Web of Science ID 000256992900011
View details for PubMedID 18424113
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The negative impacts of starting middle school in sixth grade
JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT
2008; 27 (1): 104-121
View details for DOI 10.1002/pam.20369
View details for Web of Science ID 000251625000007
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Calibration trumps confidence as a basis for witness credibility
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
2007; 18 (1): 46-50
Abstract
Confident witnesses are deemed more credible than unconfident ones, and accurate witnesses are deemed more credible than inaccurate ones. But are those effects independent? Two experiments show that errors in testimony damage the overall credibility of witnesses who were confident about the erroneous testimony more than that of witnesses who were not confident about it. Furthermore, after making an error, less confident witnesses may appear more credible than more confident ones. Our interpretation of these results is that people make inferences about source calibration when evaluating testimony and other social communication.
View details for Web of Science ID 000244797500011
View details for PubMedID 17362377
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Psychological constraints on transparency in legal and government decision making
SWISS POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW
2006; 12 (3): 112-123
View details for Web of Science ID 000241779000007
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Does social cohesion determine motivation in combat? An old question with an old answer
ARMED FORCES & SOCIETY
2006; 32 (4): 646-654
View details for DOI 10.1177/0095327X05279181
View details for Web of Science ID 000238493700011
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Competing accounts of the gateway effect: The field thins, but still no clear winner
ADDICTION
2006; 101 (4): 473-474
View details for Web of Science ID 000235936400005
View details for PubMedID 16548926
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Voice, control, and belonging: The double-edged sword of procedural fairness
ANNUAL REVIEW OF LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
2005; 1: 171-201
View details for DOI 10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.1.041604.115958
View details for Web of Science ID 000255488900010
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What does it mean to decriminalize marijuana? A cross-national empirical examination
24th Arne Ryde Symposium on Economics of Substance Use
JAI-ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. 2005: 347–369
Abstract
Although frequently discussed as a singular policy, there is tremendous variation in the laws and regulations surrounding so-called decriminalization policies adopted by Western countries, with many jurisdictions adopting depenalization policies rather than policies that actually change the criminal status of cannabis possession offences. This paper provides a discussion of the liberalization policies being adopted in Western countries, highlighting distinct elements about particular policies that are important for proper analysis and interpretation of the policies. It then discusses some of the environmental factors that also shape these policies, and hence influence their potential impact, using data from the U.S.A. as a particular example. The results clearly show that researchers should be careful conducting intra- or international comparisons of policies because important aspects of these policies are frequently ignored.
View details for Web of Science ID 000232940500017
View details for PubMedID 17867248
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Misguided drug policy
ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2004; 21 (1): 5-6
View details for Web of Science ID 000224330100002
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Population thinking as an adjunct to the clinical trial perspective
PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES
2004; 55 (5): 509-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000222759900006
View details for PubMedID 15128958
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Limited rationality and the limits of supply reduction
JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES
2003; 33 (2): 433-464
View details for Web of Science ID 000184198000008
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Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference (Book Review)
JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT
2003; 22 (2): 330-332
View details for DOI 10.1002/pam.10129
View details for Web of Science ID 000181501900020
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Is the addiction concept useful for drug policy?
Conference on Choice, Behavioural Economics and Addiction
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. 2003: 383–407
View details for Web of Science ID 000188744500014
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Heroin maintenance: Is a US experiment needed?
Conference on 100 Years of Heroin
AUBURN HOUSE PUBL CO. 2002: 159–180
View details for Web of Science ID 000185614200011
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American distortion of Dutch drug statistics
Conference on the Uses and Misuses of Science in Public Discourse
TRANS TECH PUBLICATIONS LTD. 2002: 31–38
View details for Web of Science ID 000185577200004
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Cannabis regimes - a response
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY
2001; 179: 369-370
View details for Web of Science ID 000171814600023
View details for PubMedID 11581124
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Comparative cannabis use data - Authors' reply
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY
2001; 179: 176-177
View details for Web of Science ID 000170453700020
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American distortion of Dutch drug statistics
SOCIETY
2001; 38 (3): 23-26
View details for Web of Science ID 000166910300003
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Evaluating alternative cannabis regimes
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY
2001; 178: 123-128
Abstract
Cannabis policy continues to be controversial in North America, Europe and Australia.To inform this debate, we examine alternative legal regimes for controlling cannabis availability and use.We review evidence on the effects of cannabis depenalisation in the USA, Australia and The Netherlands. We update and extend our previous (MacCoun & Reuter, 1997) empirical comparison of cannabis prevalence statistics in the USA, The Netherlands and other European nations.The available evidence indicates that depenalisation of the possession of small quantities of cannabis does not increase cannabis prevalence. The Dutch experience suggests that commercial promotion and sales may significantly increase cannabis prevalence.Alternatives to an aggressively enforced cannabis prohibition are feasible and merit serious consideration. A model of depenalised possession and personal cultivation has many of the advantages of outright legalisation with few of its risks.
View details for Web of Science ID 000166887500006
View details for PubMedID 11157425
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The costs and benefits of letting juries punish corporations: Comment on Viscusi
STANFORD LAW REVIEW
2000; 52 (6): 1821-1828
View details for Web of Science ID 000165243300004
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Epistemological dilemmas in the assessment of legal decision making
LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
1999; 23 (6): 723-730
View details for Web of Science ID 000084352500010
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What harm reduction is and isn't
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST
1999; 54 (10): 843-844
View details for Web of Science ID 000083112500012
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Does Europe do it better? Lessons from Holland, Britain and Switzerland
NATION
1999; 269 (8): 28-30
View details for Web of Science ID 000082436400018
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Goal conflict in juror assessments of compensatory and punitive damages
LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
1999; 23 (3): 313-330
View details for Web of Science ID 000081714100003
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Toward a psychology of harm reduction
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST
1998; 53 (11): 1199-1208
Abstract
This article discusses 3 different strategies for dealing with the harmful consequences of drug use and other risky behaviors: We can discourage people from engaging in the behavior (prevalence reduction), we can encourage people to reduce the frequency or extent of the behavior (quantity reduction), or we can try to reduce the harmful consequences of the behavior when it occurs (harm reduction). These strategies are not mutually exclusive; this article offers a framework for integrating them. The framework is useful for examining frequent claims that harm reduction "sends the wrong message." Opposition to harm reduction is based in part on a recognition of potential trade-offs among the strategies, but it is also fueled by several more symbolic psychological factors. Strategies for successfully integrating prevalence reduction, quantity reduction, and harm reduction are explored.
View details for Web of Science ID 000076932800003
View details for PubMedID 9830372
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Biases in the interpretation and use of research results
ANNUAL REVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY
1998; 49: 259-287
Abstract
The latter half of this century has seen an erosion in the perceived legitimacy of science as an impartial means of finding truth. Many research topics are the subject of highly politicized dispute; indeed, the objectivity of the entire discipline of psychology has been called into question. This essay examines attempts to use science to study science: specifically, bias in the interpretation and use of empirical research findings. I examine theory and research on a range of cognitive and motivational mechanisms for bias. Interestingly, not all biases are normatively proscribed; biased interpretations are defensible under some conditions, so long as those conditions are made explicit. I consider a variety of potentially corrective mechanisms, evaluate prospects for collective rationality, and compare inquisitorial and adversarial models of science.
View details for Web of Science ID 000073046400011
View details for PubMedID 15012470
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Interpreting Dutch cannabis policy: Reasoning by analogy in the legalization debate
SCIENCE
1997; 278 (5335): 47-52
Abstract
The Dutch depenalization and subsequent de facto legalization of cannabis since 1976 is used here to highlight the strengths and limitations of reasoning by analogy as a guide for projecting the effects of relaxing drug prohibitions. While the Dutch case and other analogies have flaws, they appear to converge in suggesting that reductions in criminal penalties have limited effects on drug use-at least for marijuana-but that commercial access is associated with growth in the drug-using population.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997XZ12400030
View details for PubMedID 9311925
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Is melioration the addiction theory of choice?
BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES
1996; 19 (4): 586-587
View details for Web of Science ID A1996WY84900016
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Bias in judgment: Comparing individuals and groups
PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW
1996; 103 (4): 687-719
View details for Web of Science ID A1996VM90000004
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Harm reduction and social policy: Should addicts be paid?
7th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug-Related Harm
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. 1996: 225–30
Abstract
Harm reduction principles have not been applied to social policy programs that affect drug users. This paper considers whether income supports for the drug-dependent poor might be harm reducing, given that a principal harm related to drug dependence is crime committed to finance drug use. We examine the political fate of the principal income support program in the United States that targeted the drug dependent. Revelations that the money was being used in part for the purchase of drugs has led to a scaling back and tightening of the program. We suggest that the program might have been more effectively defended if attention had been paid to community harms rather than only to drug consumption by recipients. European and Australian governments provide income support which is no doubt also used for drug consumption, but in the context of universalist income support programs they do not require a harm reduction defense. We conclude that great potential for reducing drug-related harm may fall well outside the domain of targeted drug policy, whether of the supply reduction, demand reduction or harm reduction variety.
View details for Web of Science ID A1996VK63700002
View details for PubMedID 16203376
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Estimating liability risks with the media as your guide
1993 Annual Meeting of the Law-and-Society-Association
AMERICAN JUDICATURE SOCIETY. 1996: 64–67
View details for Web of Science ID A1996VR36500004
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Estimating liability risks with the media as your guide: A content analysis of media coverage of tort litigation
LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
1996; 20 (4): 419-429
View details for Web of Science ID A1996VF24200003
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Assessing alternative drug control regimes
5th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug-Related Harm
WILEY-BLACKWELL. 1996: 330–52
Abstract
The debate over alternative regimes for currently illicit psychoactive substances focuses on polar alternatives: harsh prohibition and sweeping legalization. This study presents an array of alternatives that lies between these extremes. The current debate lacks an explicit and inclusive framework for making comparative judgments. In this study, we sketch out such a framework, as a reminder of possible policy levers and their costs and benefits that might otherwise be neglected or go unrecognized. The framework identifies a range of pharmacological and economic characteristics of substances, potential harms and their bearers, and the sources of those harms, including drug use, trafficking, law enforcement, and illegal status per se. The framework highlights the difficulty of making objective, rigorous comparisons among regimes, but we believe that it can serve a useful heuristic role in promoting more constructive debate and identifying fruitful questions for research.
View details for Web of Science ID A1996UU64400002
View details for PubMedID 10848158
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Differential treatment of corporate defendants by juries: An examination of the ''Deep-Pockets'' hypothesis
1991 Annual Meeting of the Law-and-Society-Association
LAW AND SOC ASSN. 1996: 121–61
View details for Web of Science ID A1996UJ50100005
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On the ubiquity of drug selling among youthful offenders in Washington, DC, 1985-1991: Age, period, or cohort effect?
JOURNAL OF QUANTITATIVE CRIMINOLOGY
1995; 11 (4): 337-362
View details for Web of Science ID A1995TM19900001
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Comparing drug policies in North America and Western Europe
European Scientific Seminar on Strategies and Policies to Combat Drugs
MARTINUS NIJHOFF PUBL. 1995: 197–220
View details for Web of Science ID A1995BE32B00013
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Assessing the legalization debate
European Scientific Seminar on Strategies and Policies to Combat Drugs
MARTINUS NIJHOFF PUBL. 1995: 39–49
View details for Web of Science ID A1995BE32B00004
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PHANTOM RISK - SCIENTIFIC INFERENCE AND THE LAW - FOSTER,KR, BERNSTEIN,DE, HUBER,PW (Book Review)
JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT
1995; 14 (1): 168-171
View details for Web of Science ID A1995QH40400017
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A CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF THE DRUG LEGALIZATION DEBATE
JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES
1993; 23 (4): 615-629
View details for Web of Science ID A1993MB17900004
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DRUGS AND THE LAW - A PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF DRUG PROHIBITION
PSYCHOLOGICAL BULLETIN
1993; 113 (3): 497-512
Abstract
There is an ongoing American policy debate about the appropriate legal status for psychoactive drugs. Prohibition, decriminalization, and legalization positions are all premised on assumptions about the behavioral effects of drug laws. What is actually known and not known about these effects is reviewed. Rational-choice models of legal compliance suggest that criminalization reduces use through restricted drug availability, increased drug prices, and the deterrent effect of the risk of punishment. Research on these effects illustrates the need for a more realistic perspective that acknowledges the limitations of human rationality and the importance of moral reasoning and informal social control factors. There are at least 7 different mechanisms by which the law influences drug use, some of which are unintended and counterproductive. This framework is used to explore the potential behavioral effects of decriminalization and legalization.
View details for Web of Science ID A1993LB44800007
View details for PubMedID 8316611
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ARE THE WAGES OF SIN 30-DOLLAR AN HOUR - ECONOMIC-ASPECTS OF STREET-LEVEL DRUG DEALING
CRIME & DELINQUENCY
1992; 38 (4): 477-491
View details for Web of Science ID A1992JP70000005
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DRUG POLICIES AND PROBLEMS - THE PROMISE AND PITFALLS OF CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON
3RD INTERNATIONAL CONF ON THE REDUCTION OF DRUG-RELATED HARM : FROM FAITH TO SCIENCE
WHURR PUBL LTD. 1992: 103–117
View details for Web of Science ID A1992BZ11W00009
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UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF COURT ARBITRATION - A CAUTIONARY TALE FROM NEW-JERSEY
JUSTICE SYSTEM JOURNAL
1991; 14 (2): 229-243
View details for Web of Science ID A1991FM26000006
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THE EMERGENCE OF EXTRALEGAL BIAS DURING JURY DELIBERATION
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR
1990; 17 (3): 303-314
View details for Web of Science ID A1990DV67600005
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IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - TORT LITIGANTS EVALUATIONS OF THEIR EXPERIENCES IN THE CIVIL JUSTICE SYSTEM
LAW & SOCIETY REVIEW
1990; 24 (4): 953-996
View details for Web of Science ID A1990ET24700003
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EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON JURY DECISION-MAKING
SCIENCE
1989; 244 (4908): 1046-1050
Abstract
Because trial juries deliberate in secrecy, legal debates about jury functioning have relied heavily on anecdote and speculation. In recent years, investigators have begun to challenge many common assumptions about jury behavior. An important tool in this effort has been the mock jury experiment, in which research participants are randomly assigned to alternative trial conditions and asked to reach a verdict in a simulated case. Researchers have used mock jury experiments to test hypotheses about causal influences on jury behavior and to develop theoretical models of the jury deliberation process.
View details for Web of Science ID A1989U836500023
View details for PubMedID 17741042
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THE BASIS OF CITIZENS PERCEPTIONS OF THE CRIMINAL JURY - PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS, ACCURACY, AND EFFICIENCY
LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
1988; 12 (3): 333-352
View details for Web of Science ID A1988Q099500008
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ASYMMETRIC INFLUENCE IN MOCK JURY DELIBERATION - JURORS BIAS FOR LENIENCY
JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1988; 54 (1): 21-33
Abstract
Investigators have frequently noted a leniency bias in mock jury research, in which deliberation appears to induce greater leniency in criminal mock jurors. One manifestation of this bias, the asymmetry effect, suggests that proacquittal factions are more influential than proconviction factions of comparable size. A meta-analysis indicated that these asymmetry effects are reliable across a variety of experimental contexts. Experiment 1 examined the possibility that the leniency bias is restricted to the typical college-student subject population. The decisions of college-student and community mock jurors in groups beginning deliberation with equal faction sizes (viz., 2:2) were compared. The magnitude of the asymmetry effect did not differ between the two populations. We hypothesized that the asymmetry effect was caused by an asymmetric prodefendant standard of proof--the reasonable-doubt standard. In Experiment 2, subjects received either reasonable-doubt or preponderance-of-evidence instructions. After providing initial verdict preferences, some subjects deliberated in groups composed with an initial 2:2 split, whereas other subjects privately generated arguments for each verdict option. A significant asymmetry was found for groups in the reasonable-doubt condition, but group verdicts were symmetrical under the preponderance-of-evidence instructions. Shifts toward leniency in individual verdict preferences occurred for group members, but not for subjects who performed the argument-generation task. The theoretical and applied significance of these findings is discussed.
View details for Web of Science ID A1988L778300003
View details for PubMedID 3346806
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STEREOTYPES AND NONSTEREOTYPIC JUDGMENTS - THE EFFECTS OF GENDER-ROLE ATTITUDES ON RATINGS OF LIKABILITY, ADJUSTMENT, AND OCCUPATIONAL POTENTIAL
PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
1987; 13 (1): 45-52
View details for Web of Science ID A1987G706100004
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GAINING AND LOSING SOCIAL SUPPORT - MOMENTUM IN DECISION-MAKING GROUPS
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1987; 23 (2): 119-145
View details for Web of Science ID A1987J049500002
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FREE PRESS AND FAIR TRIAL - THE ROLE OF BEHAVIORAL-RESEARCH
LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
1986; 10 (3): 187-201
View details for Web of Science ID A1986D710900001
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ROLE EXPECTATIONS IN SOCIAL DILEMMAS - SEX-ROLES AND TASK MOTIVATION IN GROUPS
JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1985; 49 (6): 1547-1556
View details for Web of Science ID A1985AXZ3600009
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EFFECTS OF VICTIM ATTRACTIVENESS, CARE AND DISFIGUREMENT ON THE JUDGEMENTS OF AMERICAN AND BRITISH MOCK JURORS
BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1985; 24 (FEB): 47-58
View details for Web of Science ID A1985ACM2200005
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THE EFFECTS OF JURY SIZE AND POLLING METHOD ON THE PROCESS AND PRODUCT OF JURY DELIBERATION
JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1985; 48 (2): 349-363
Abstract
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly assumed the functional equivalence of different sized juries (at least in the range of 6- to 12-person groups). Several formal models of jury decision making predict that larger juries should hang more often, particularly for very close cases. Failures to confirm this prediction in several previous studies were attributed to inadequate sample sizes or to insufficiently close cases. An experimental simulation study that minimized these problems was undertaken to test the models' prediction. Social decision scheme and social transition scheme analyses permitted comparisons of the decision-making processes of the different-sized mock juries. The effect of the method used to poll group members' verdict preferences was also examined. As group size increased, the observed probability of a hung jury increased significantly. No process differences between 6- and 12-person groups were detected, but 3-person groups did exhibit several process differences from the larger groups. When cases were very close, the likelihood of a hung jury for typically sized juries was found to be lower when the group was polled by secret ballot than when a show-of-hands polling method was used.
View details for Web of Science ID A1985ADH6400007
View details for PubMedID 3981399
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SEX COMPOSITION OF GROUPS AND MEMBER MOTIVATION .2. EFFECTS OF RELATIVE TASK ABILITY
BASIC AND APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1984; 5 (4): 255-271
View details for Web of Science ID A1984TV39100001