Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania
Scott Burris, JD •
Center for Public Health Law Research
This paper presents a three-step process for developing legal interventions as well as observations and suggestions for how to think about legal innovation within the broader campaign for evidenced-based policy.
Medical marijuana laws have been suggested as a possible cause of increases in marijuana use among adolescents in the United States. The study results suggest that, in the states assessed (Montana, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Delaware), medical marijuana laws have not measurably affected adolescent marijuana use in the first few years after their enactment. Longer-term results, after medical marijuana laws are more fully implemented, might be different.
This study was conducted with high school football and girls’ soccer athletes playing in fall 2012 and their coaches and parents in 20 urban or rural high schools in Washington State. Sixty-nine percent of concussed athletes reported playing with symptoms, and 40 percent reported that their coach was not aware of their concussion.
This research note explores complications with standard methods to evaluate place-based policing interventions. It identifies and explains issues of boundary misspecification during evaluation as a result of boundary adjustment by police during an intervention.
The study finds that three years after the passage of a concussion law in Washington State, high school football and soccer coaches are receiving substantial concussion education and have good concussion knowledge. The study also shows that concussion education for athletes and parents is more limited, and that football players receive more extensive concussion education than soccer players.
Research Foundation of State University of New York on behalf of University at Buffalo
The study examined whether the source (federal/state/local) or type (restricted/flexible) of funding impacts quality outcome measures linked to mental health of children in foster care. The researchers find that flexible funding is linked to reduced median days in care and days awaiting adoption.
This study concludes that shared-use agreements that include legal clauses to address school concerns about factors such as vandalism, staffing and funding represent a promising strategy for increasing physical activity opportunities in under-resourced neighborhoods where the prevalence of obesity is high.
This LawAtlas map offers details on whether a state has laws requiring access to free STD treatment services. It also includes whether the law prohibits a patient from being billed or whether a third party may be billed.
This LawAtlas map provides information about the states where health care professionals who provide free services are immune from civil liability, and whether the immunity is limited to state employees. It also provides information about how a provider could lose their immunity.
This LawAtlas map provides information about the state laws and regulations that dictate how, when and to what extent a health department may intervene when communicable diseases appear in their jurisdiction.
