Substate variation in US Cannabis policy: Local opt-outs and drive times to legal retailers.

Nippler G.; Pearson J.; Friedman A. · The International journal on drug policy · 2026

**Background & Methods** This systematic review compiled novel data on local cannabis opt-out ordinances and dispensary locations across five U.S. states (California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Washington) with legalized adult-use cannabis (AUC). Researchers matched opt-out policy data to U.S. Census population counts and used geospatial methods to calculate drive times from jurisdiction centroids to nearest legal dispensaries, with ordinary least squares regressions estimating associations between opt-out status and drive times while adjusting for geographic and transportation covariates. **Key Findings** • Local opt-out coverage varied substantially across states, ranging from 1.5% of the population in New York to approximately 55% in New Jersey, indicating considerable substate policy heterogeneity not captured by binary state-level legalization indicators. • Opt-out policies significantly increased drive times to nearest dispensaries in California (+5.5 minutes, representing 20% of that state's average minimum drive time) and Washington (+8.9 minutes, representing 42% of average minimum drive time), particularly where county-level opt-outs and geography created genuine geographic barriers preventing retailers from locating just outside opted-out jurisdictions. • Associations between opt-out status and drive times were largely non-significant in Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, suggesting that the impact of local opt-outs depends critically on geographic context and how jurisdictional boundaries interact with retailer location decisions rather than simply on the proportion of population covered by opt-out policies. **Dosage & Administration** Not reported. **Safety & Adverse Effects** Not reported. **Evidence Quality** This review is limited by its cross-sectional design, which precludes causal inference regarding opt-out policies' temporal effects. The study relies on novel data compilation across disparate jurisdictions, introducing potential inconsistencies in how opt-out ordinances were identified and classified. Generalizability is limited to five states with potentially unique geographic and regulatory contexts. The analysis does not account for dynamic policy changes or retailer responses to opt-out policies over time. However, the study's strength lies in its geospatial precision and multistate comparison, highlighting critical methodological considerations for cannabis legalization research—specifically the need to move beyond binary state-level indicators to examine local policy variation.

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