Jennifer Whitehill

Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management | University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES

Jennifer Whitehill’s research centers on preventing injuries from a variety of mechanisms among youth and young adults.

Expertise (5)

Injury Prevention and Substance Use

Cannabis Policy

Injury Prevention

Substance Use‎

Mobile Technology and Health (mHealth)

Biography

Jennifer Whitehill's research centers on preventing both intentional and unintentional injuries, especially among youth and young adults.

Her work examines substance use (cannabis, alcohol and other drugs) and a range of outcomes, including motor vehicle crashes, depression and youth violence with a particular interest in the ways that public policies negatively or positively impact health equity and social determinants of health.

Education (2)

Johns Hopkins University: Ph.D., Health Policy and Management

Tufts University: B.S., Biology and Community Health

Links (4)

Select Recent Media Coverage (4)

UMass Amherst Study Finds High School Students No More Likely To Use Marijuana After Legalization

Healthcare Business Today

2023-11-17

While perceived marijuana use by family and friends was known to be a risk factor for adolescent marijuana use, English and senior author and injury prevention researcher Jennifer Whitehill, associate professor of health policy and management, wanted to examine whether this association changed in the context of legalization. No association was found between the legalization of cannabis for adult recreational use and adolescent use, though further research is warranted, English says.

Impaired Driving Program Reveals Rift Among Cannabis Commissioners in Mass.

NBC 10 Boston online

2023-01-13

Commissioners Bruce Stebbins and Kimberly Roy worked with the Registry of Motor Vehicles, MassDOT, Department of Public Health, AAA and UMass researcher Jennifer Whitehill in deciding to adopt AAA Northeast's educational program "Shifting Gears, the blunt truth about marijuana and driving" for Massachusetts teens learning to drive.

Guns killed more young people than cars did for the first time in 2020

The Washington Post

2022-05-25

The country is very active in trying to reduce vehicle deaths, said Jennifer M. Whitehill, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts who specializes in preventing injuries. The government spends money and uses research to craft policies for safer roadways and vehicles. “But our government has proved itself unwilling or unable to do the same with firearm deaths and injuries,” Whitehill said.

More Young Kids Are Getting Sick From Cannabis Edibles

The New York Times

2022-01-14

It has been nearly a decade since Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. Eventually, 16 other states and Washington, D.C., followed suit. “The trend will likely continue upward as more states legalize cannabis and markets expand,” Jennifer M. Whitehill, the lead author of the Pediatrics study, said in an email.

Select Publications (1)

Employment and marijuana use among Washington State adolescents before and after legalization of retail marijuana

Journal of Adolescent Health

2019 The purpose of the study was to describe associations between employment and marijuana use among adolescents 2 years before passage of 2012 ballot initiative and 2 years after the implementation of retail recreational marijuana sales took place in Washington.