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Availability of medical cannabis services by racial, social, and geographic characteristics of neighborhoods in New York: a cross-sectional study

Chinazo O. Cunningham, Chenshu Zhang, Maegan Hollins, Melinda Wang, Sumeet Singh-Tan, Paul J. Joudrey

BMC Public Health, 2022

24 citations

Abstract

Background Within the United States (US), because racial/ethnic disparities in cannabis arrests continue, and cannabis legalization is expanding, understanding disparities in availability of legal cannabis services is important. Few studies report mixed findings regarding disparities in availability of legal cannabis services; none examined New York. We examined disparities in availability of medical cannabis services in New York. We hypothesized that New York census tracts with few Black or Hispanic residents, high incomes, high education levels, and greater urbanicity would have more medical cannabis services. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we used data from the 2018 US Census Bureau 5-year American Community Survey and New York Medical Marijuana Program. Main exposures were census tract characteristics, including urban–rural classification, percentage of Black and Hispanic residents, percentage of residents with bachelor’s degrees or higher, and median household income. Main outcomes were presence of at least one medical cannabis certifying provider and dispensary in each census tract. To compare census tracts’ characteristics with (vs. without) certifying providers and dispensaries, we used chi-square tests and t-tests. To examine characteristics independently associated with (vs. without) certifying providers, we used multivariable logistic regression. Results Of 4858 New York census tracts, 1073 (22.1%) had medical cannabis certifying providers and 37 (0.8%)…

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