Marijuana and the U.S. Navy: the impact of changing laws, attitudes and behavior on recruiting
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Authors
Martinez Alvarez, Katherine G.
Subjects
Navy
recruiting
recruit
conduct waiver
accession
pre-accession
Military Entry Processing Station
MEPS
drug test
marijuana
cannabis
THC
medical marijuana
recreational marijuana
personalized recruiting for immediate and delayed enlistment
PRIDE
difference-in-difference
recruiting
recruit
conduct waiver
accession
pre-accession
Military Entry Processing Station
MEPS
drug test
marijuana
cannabis
THC
medical marijuana
recreational marijuana
personalized recruiting for immediate and delayed enlistment
PRIDE
difference-in-difference
Advisors
Sullivan, Ryan
Seagren, Chad
Date of Issue
2017-03
Date
Mar-17
Publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
While marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under federal regulations, 28 states have legalized it in some form. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy's Zero Tolerance policy and the Department of Defense drug testing program have become stricter. As marijuana becomes more popular, the Navy faces a recruiting challenge. This thesis analyzes the generational shift of perception toward marijuana legalization and the impact of legalization on military accessions and marijuana waivers granted in the U.S. Navy. I utilize a difference-in-difference (DID) framework with accession data from Naval Recruiting Command to study these issues. On a basic level, the DID framework compares total number of marijuana waivers and accessions in states where marijuana has been legalized with those states where it is not legal, over time. The data I use includes the total number of U.S. Navy accessions and marijuana waivers granted in each of the 50 states and U.S. territories from October 2010 until January 2017. I find that state marijuana legalization leads to a decrease of 0.2 waivers granted per month in the most robust model (i.e., when comparing states that have legalized marijuana to those that have not while controlling for state and time fixed effects). In addition, the estimates suggest legalization increases the total number of recruits by 4.9 per month in a similar framework. Both of these results were statistically significant at the standard 5 percent level.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Business & Public Policy (GSBPP)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.