ERIC Number: EJ1164827
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Dec
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0268-1153
EISSN: N/A
The Development and Pilot Testing of the Marijuana Retail Surveillance Tool (MRST): Assessing Marketing and Point-of-Sale Practices among Recreational Marijuana Retailers
Berg, Carla J.; Henriksen, Lisa; Cavazos-Rehg, Patricia; Schauer, Gillian L.; Freisthler, Bridget
Health Education Research, v32 n6 p465-472 Dec 2017
As recreational marijuana expands, it is critical to develop standardized surveillance measures to study the retail environment. To this end, our research team developed and piloted a tool assessing recreational marijuana retailers in a convenience sample of 20 Denver retailers in 2016. The tool assesses: (i) compliance and security (e.g. age-of-sale signage, ID checks, security cameras); (ii) marketing (i.e. promotions, product availability and price) and (iii) contextual and neighborhood features (i.e. retailer type, facilities nearby). Most shops (90.0%) indicated the minimum age requirement, all verified age. All shops posted interior ads (M = 2.6/retailer, SD = 3.4), primarily to promote edibles and other non-smoked products. Price promotions were common in shops (73.7%), 57.9% used social media promotions and 31.6% had take-away materials (e.g. menus, party promotions). Nearly half of the shops (42.1%) advertised health claims. All shops offered bud, joints, honey oil, tinctures, kief, beverages, edibles and topicals; fewer sold clones and seeds. Six shops (31.6%) sold shop-branded apparel and/or paraphernalia. Prices for bud varied within and between stores ($20-$45/"eighth," ~3.5 g). Twelve were recreational only, and eight were both recreational and medicinal. Liquor stores were commonly proximal. Reliability assessments with larger, representative samples are needed to create a standardized marijuana retail surveillance tool.
Descriptors: Pilot Projects, Marijuana, Retailing, Standards, Compliance (Legal), Safety, Costs, Marketing, Community Characteristics, Age, Food, Social Media, Advertising, Health, Drug Therapy
Oxford University Press. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. Tel: +44-1865-353907; Fax: +44-1865-353485; e-mail: jnls.cust.serv@oxfordjournals.org; Web site: http://her.oxfordjournals.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Cancer Institute (NCI) (NIH); National Institute on Drug Abuse (DHHS/PHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Colorado (Denver)
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1R01CA17942201; R01DA032715