Policy Evaluation on Marijuana Legalization

o Policy Evaluation (5 pages including impact on community section) • Does your policy work, based on the definition of success you identified above? Why or why not? What does the empirical research about your policy reveal? Here your conclusions should be based on empirical evidence – statistics, patterns, trends, data, etc. • You need to take a position on your policy using evidence (for, against, in need or reform) – remember this section needs to support your thesis (you may need to go back and change your thesis after writing this section) – save specific recommendations for changes for your next section “Policy Recommendations” o Impact on Community & Society (1-2 paragraphs) • Does your policy have specific impact on particular community groups? Women, people of color, adolescents, gays and lesbians, immigrants, convicted felons, police officers, veteran/military personnel, urban residents, etc.? If so, what and why? Who benefits or suffers most from this policy? Policy Evaluation: Include one paragraph here that serves as a roadmap for the rest of the section. Your evaluation needs to be broken into at minimum 3 sub-headings: o Subheading 1 (first part of your evaluation of the policy) o Subheading 2 o Subheading 3 o Etc • Impact on community and Society (1-2 paragraphs) Example: Policy Evaluation The policy evaluation of the paper is going to delve into studies that show the benefits of early release. These articles will give specific examples and statistics to back up the facts that will be stated. The policy evaluation will detail how the policy of early release reduces recidivism, saves money, and helps to rehabilitate inmates. Recidivism Contrary to the common assumption that one in two inmates will go back to committing crime, recent studies suggest that two out of every three offenders (66%) who enter prison will never return back there again (Rhodes et al., 2016). Of this 33% of returning offenders, only 12% of those will go to prison more than two times Cost Effectiveness Early release benefits the prison, government, and society because it saves money. According to a study done by Shrum, early release saves taxpayers anywhere from $30.000- $50.000 per inmate per year (Shrum. 2004) Rehabilitation Lastly, early release is beneficial because of the rehabilitation it allows. There are many rehabilitation programs that help forward early release with incentivized or judge mandated sentencing……………………. ……………. Impact on Community Early release has an impact on the United States community and society. Contrary to the societal backlash against early release, it benefits society more to have the inmates back out on the streets than to have them in prison