The Impact of Excise Tax Structures for Retail Marijuana on Marijuana Consumption

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

2500 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-06-17

Study Completion Date

2027-08-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The investigators will follow probability-based cohorts of adult non-medical marijuana users (N=1,500; ages 21+) and susceptible adolescents and young adults (AYA) users (N=1,000; ages 15-20) over four years. The investigators will use a prospective survey to collect marijuana use information and will conduct volumetric choice experiments (VCEs) where participants choose quantities to purchase among three legal product prototypes: flower, edible, and concentrate; and one illegal flower product, under simulated retail marijuana tax structures. The presentation of edibles and concentrates will change over time to capture the range of product varieties in the market and to accommodate new products and characteristics as they evolve. Choice experiments including VCEs use a series of manipulations as a measurement device to elicit preferences for products and consumption. Therefore, the experimental design is within-subjects with repeated measures, which allow for causal identifications of the impact of design attributes (e.g., tax bases and rates) on preference and consumption outcomes. The attributes and levels are selected to reflect THC levels in the market, existing (weight, price, tiered price by forms) and novel (potency) tax bases, existing (10%-40% of retail price or equivalent in other bases) and potential (high 60% and 80% of retail prices or equivalent) tax rates, and price distribution for each product. Price distribution levels (5 to 95 percentiles) will come from our price data collection and will be updated over time and vary by participants' state and locality of residence.

Before the experiment, study personnel will instruct participants 1) how to answer the choice experiment question, including considering their weekly expenditures when answering VCE questions; 2) that there is no access to other products, no stockpiling, no selling or giving away products to others, etc., to ensure that participants choose products that reflect their usual purchase patterns for self-use; 3) that there are no right or wrong responses. Study personnel will instruct participants to answer all questions honestly, thoughtfully, and to the best of their understanding as if they were actually in this situation, to reduce hypothetical bias; 4) that there may be potential costs or issues associated with purchasing illegal products, including risks of penalties, undefined potency, possible contamination, and inconsistent product quality; and 5) that participants should keep their weekly budget in mind when making purchase choices of the products. In VCEs, the investigators will manipulate THC levels, tax rates and bases, and price levels. Participants will be asked to answer the following: "Imagine these are the marijuana products that you (participants) can purchase for non-medical use, how many of each product would you (participants) most likely buy next time?" Participants can choose more than one product, and as they choose quantities, the total balance will be displayed. To make the tasks easier, study personnel will 1) set a warning to inform participants if their reported budget exceeds their weekly budget for spending; 2) provide a dropdown list for quantities or, if they would like more units than the listed, they can fill in a number; and 3) all products are described as high-quality to allow for a comparison of prices. Half of the participants will be randomized to see itemized pre-tax tag price, excise taxes, and sales taxes, as requested in some states (e.g., Illinois); the other half will be randomized to see only prices that are inclusive of excise taxes. This will allow us to whether excise taxes are more effective when applied at checkout compared to hidden in the tag prices.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

Responsible Marijuana Sales Practices to Reduce the Risk of Selling to Intoxicated Customers

NCT06235632

Alcoholic Intoxication Automobile Accident Cannabis

ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION NA

Cannabis' Impact on Alcohol Consumption

NCT05389930

Alcohol Drinking Cannabis Use Cannabis +1 more

RECRUITING PHASE2

Marijuana's Impact on Alcohol Motivation and Consumption

NCT02983773

Alcohol Drinking Marijuana

COMPLETED PHASE2

Cannabinoid Receptor Function & Alcoholism

NCT00624715

Alcoholism

COMPLETED PHASE1

Alcohol and Cannabis Concentrates Co-Administration

NCT05999344

Alcohol Use Disorder Cannabis Use

COMPLETED NA

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Hypothetical Cannabis Purchase

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Design method: An orthogonal experimental design that identifies the effects of main attributes (4 THC levels, 3 excise tax bases, 5 tax rate levels, 5 pre-tax tag price levels) will result in 300 (3×4×52) choice scenarios. The investigators will use the Ngene software and a D-optimal design to select a subset of all choice scenarios that significantly reduce the total number of choice sets while remaining efficient for model identification. To reduce fatigue, the investigators will develop 2 blocks each containing 12 choice sets, and participants will be randomly assigned to one of these blocks. The order of the 12 choice sets will also be randomized. Before the experiment, participants will be instructed that their answers will be used for research to advance public health and that they should answer truthfully.

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

No masking. Participants are assigned to different tax structures and answer choice experiment questions when prices, taxes, and THC levels of cannabis products change

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Tax structure weight arm 1

Participants are randomized into seeing WEIGHT based taxes for recreational cannabis, then they make hypothetical purchases in responses to products with different THC levels, prices, and taxes.

Group Type OTHER

Arm 1 Intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Arm 1 intervention is weight based taxes on cannabis, where participants make hypothetical purchases under weight based taxes.

Tax structure weight arm 2

Participants are randomized into seeing PRICE based taxes for recreational cannabis, then they make hypothetical purchases in responses to products with different THC levels, prices, and taxes.

Group Type OTHER

Arm 2 Intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Arm 2 intervention is price based taxes on cannabis, where participants make hypothetical purchases under price based taxes.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Arm 1 Intervention

Arm 1 intervention is weight based taxes on cannabis, where participants make hypothetical purchases under weight based taxes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Arm 2 Intervention

Arm 2 intervention is price based taxes on cannabis, where participants make hypothetical purchases under price based taxes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

Adults:

* aged 21 years and older
* must be past-30-day dual users of recreational marijuana Adolescents and young adults
* ages 15-20
* susceptible to marijuana use

Exclusion:

* adults older than 21 years who are not using marijuana for recreational purposes
* youth under age 15
* teens and young adults who are not susceptible to marijuana use

Minimum Eligible Age

15 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No