Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Referrals for Child Maltreatment Investigations

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052091259
Author(s):  
Bridget Freisthler ◽  
Christiana Kranich
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Medical Marijuana ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alcohol Outlet ◽  
Alcohol Outlet Density ◽  
Outlet Density ◽  
Medical Marijuana Dispensaries ◽  
Conditionally Autoregressive

The changing legal status of marijuana in the United States has increased access to the drug through medical marijuana dispensaries. Limited research exists that examines the effects of these dispensaries on social problems including child maltreatment. The current study examines how medical marijuana dispensaries may affect referrals for child abuse and neglect investigations. Data are analyzed from 2,342 Census tracts in Los Angeles County, California. Locations of medical marijuana dispensaries were obtained through Weedmaps.com . Using conditionally autoregressive models, local and spatially lagged dispensaries show a positive relationship to rates of referrals in the unadjusted models. However, when we adjust for alcohol outlet density and measures of social disorganization, this relationship is no longer significant. Although this study does not find a relationship between medical marijuana dispensaries and referrals for investigations of child maltreatment, it should not be considered a definitive finding of this relationship. The increasing number of states that are allowing marijuana to be used for medical and recreational purposes is resulting in more people using the drug and the effects on parenting are still unknown.

scholarly journals Alcohol outlet density and alcohol consumption in Los Angeles county and southern Louisiana

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Schonlau ◽  
Richard Scribner ◽  
Thomas A. Farley ◽  
Katherine P. Theall ◽  
Ricky N. Bluthenthal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Los Angeles County ◽  
Alcohol Outlet ◽  
Alcohol Outlet Density ◽  
Outlet Density ◽  
Southern Louisiana

scholarly journals The Neighborhood-Level Association Between Alcohol Outlet Density and Female Criminal Victimization Rates

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 2639-2662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra J. Snowden ◽  
Sara Hockin ◽  
William Alex Pridemore
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Violent Victimization ◽  
Alcohol Outlet ◽  
Alcohol Outlets ◽  
Alcohol Outlet Density ◽  
Outlet Density ◽  
Neighborhood Level ◽  
Victimization Rates

The aim of this study was to explore the neighborhood-level association between alcohol outlet density and non–intimate partner violent victimization rates among females. Violent offending and victimization are more prevalent for males than females, and most research on alcohol outlets and violence emphasizes males. Studies that do focus on alcohol outlets and female violent victimization tend to focus on intimate partner violence (IPV), yet non-IPV events are over three quarters of all female violent victimization incidents in the United States. We collected data on violent victimization rates, on- and off-premise alcohol outlet density, and neighborhood-level covariates of violence rates for Milwaukee block groups. We used spatially lagged regression models to test this association, to compare non-IPV results with those for overall female violent victimization rates, and to compare results for females with those for males. Our findings showed density of both on- and off-premise alcohol outlets was positively associated with non-IPV female violent victimization rates, which is an important finding given lack of research on this topic. We also found results for females (both overall and non-IPV violent victimization) were generally the same as for males, but the effect of off-premise outlets on non-IPV female violent victimization rates was weaker than the same association for males. Our findings have clear policy implications for local jurisdictions. Alcohol outlet density is important for both female and male violent victimization. Limiting the licensing of alcohol-selling establishments, especially those that engage in irresponsible retail practices, may be a suitable approach to address violent victimization.

Asian Pacific Americans Living with HIV Who Were Smuggled Immigrants: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 105477382110085
Author(s):  
Feifei Huang ◽  
Wei-Ti Chen ◽  
Cheng-Shi Shiu ◽  
Wenxiu Sun ◽  
Abigail Radaza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Migrant Smuggling ◽  
Living With Hiv

Migrant smuggling is a humanitarian crisis that impacts public health. A limited number of studies have focused on the links between migrant smuggling and its impact on the risk of infectious diseases, including HIV, for those smuggled. To explore these links, we conducted in-depth interviews with 11 Asian and Pacific Americans (APA) living with HIV in New York and Los Angeles. Qualitative content analysis revealed that smuggled immigrants described their experience as one with opportunity and danger. Smuggled immigrants, who aimed to achieve their American dream, were influenced by hometown pioneers who successfully journeyed to the United States and by the prospect of gaining legal status through immigration policy similar to the 1986 amnesty. Unfortunately, the long and dangerous journey exposed the immigrants to health problems, including risk for HIV. Thus, health care providers for immigrants should assess their migration routes and screen for infectious diseases.

The Application of Spatial Analysis to the Public Health Understanding of Alcohol and Alcohol-Related Problems

2011 ◽  
pp. 57-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Lipton ◽  
D. M. Gorman ◽  
Paul Gruenewald
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
General Context ◽  
Alcohol Outlet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Alcohol Outlet Density ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Outlet Density ◽  
Alcohol Related Problems

This chapter describes research that uses spatial modeling to address pressing issues related to a public health understanding of alcohol problems and violence. First, we introduce the language of spatial analysis used in prevention work and discuss the details of spatial research that result in useful public health information, particularly in regard to alcohol-related problems. Issues such as geo-mapping, variable selection, and area definition are discussed in regard to community level occurrence of such problems. We then discuss the general context for understanding the geographic relationship between alcohol outlet density and violent crime. Finally, we give a specific example of an analysis focusing on alcohol outlets and violence. This work is related to the major goal of studying the community geography of alcohol problems by mapping the alcohol environment, relating these features of the environment to the spatial distribution of problem events, and analyzing the statistical associations between these measures and drinking behaviors.

Spatiotemporal patterns of alcohol outlets and violence: A spatially heterogeneous Markov chain analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 239980832096556
Author(s):  
Ran Wei ◽  
Tony H Grubesic ◽  
Wei Kang
Keyword(s):  
Markov Chain ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alcohol Outlet ◽  
Alcohol Outlets ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Outlet Density

Alcohol-related violence remains a serious social and public health problem in the United States. A large corpus of work suggests a positive statistical relationship between alcohol outlet density and violence. However, questions remain as to how neighborhood violence evolves in response to varying access to alcohol outlets. This paper introduces an approach for analyzing the spatial and temporal dynamics of violence and its association with alcohol outlets by embedding the evolution of assault events and outlet density within a spatially heterogeneous Markov chain framework. This framework enables the exploration of spatiotemporal dynamics of alcohol outlets and violence and controls for potentially confounding impacts and spatial heterogeneity. Using a case study at the block group level in Seattle, Washington, the results of this paper suggest that violence is spatially heterogeneous at the local level and locations with sparsely distributed alcohol outlets are less likely to see an increase in violence when compared to areas with higher densities of outlets. Further, the modeling approach helps identify locations that might “tip” into more violent conditions if more outlets were allowed to operate. This paper concludes with a brief discussion of how the methods and results can help improve the management, licensing, and policy development for alcohol outlets in a community.

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