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Does liberalizing cannabis laws increase cannabis use?

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  • Williams, Jenny
  • Bretteville-Jensen, Anne Line

Abstract

A key question in the ongoing policy debate over cannabis’ legal status is whether liberalizing cannabis laws leads to an increase in cannabis use. This paper provides new evidence on the impact of a specific type of liberalization, decriminalization, on initiation into cannabis use. Our identification strategy exploits variation in the timing of cannabis policy reforms and our estimation framework marries a difference-in-difference approach with a discrete time duration model. Our results reveal evidence of both heterogeneity and dynamics in the response of cannabis uptake to decriminalization. Overall, we find that the impact of decriminalization is concentrated amongst minors, who have a higher rate of uptake in the first five years following its introduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Williams, Jenny & Bretteville-Jensen, Anne Line, 2014. "Does liberalizing cannabis laws increase cannabis use?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 20-32.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:36:y:2014:i:c:p:20-32
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.03.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Jenny Williams & Rosalie Liccardo Pacula & Rosanna Smart, 2019. "De Facto or De Jure? Ethnic Differences in Quit Responses to Legal Protections of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries," NBER Working Papers 25555, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Jonathan Meer & Jeremy West, 2016. "Effects of the Minimum Wage on Employment Dynamics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(2), pages 500-522.
    3. Manu Raghav & Timothy M. Diette, 2022. "Greek myth or fact? The role of Greek houses in alcohol and drug violations on American campuses," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(55), pages 6406-6417, November.
    4. Lucas Marín Llanes & Hernando Zuleta, 2022. "Myths of drug consumption decriminalization: effects of Portuguese decriminalization on violent and drug use mortality," Documentos CEDE 20328, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    5. Cervený, Jakub, 2017. "Essays in applied microeconometrics," Other publications TiSEM 112ffea7-a661-4914-8c61-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Noah Spencer, 2022. "Does decriminalization cause more drug overdose deaths? Evidence from Oregon Measure 110," Working Papers tecipa-745, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    7. Meier, Armando N. & Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2021. "Tobacco sales prohibition and teen smoking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 998-1014.
    8. Cervený, J. & van Ours, J.C. & Chomynova, Pavla & Mravcik, Viktor, 2015. "Cannabis Decriminalization and the Age of Onset of Cannabis Use," Discussion Paper 2015-007, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    9. Elisa Benedetti & Giuliano Resce & Paolo Brunori & Sabrina Molinaro, 2021. "Cannabis Policy Changes and Adolescent Cannabis Use: Evidence from Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-16, May.
    10. Hunt, Priscillia E & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Weinberger, Gabriel, 2018. "High on Crime? Exploring the Effects of Marijuana Dispensary Laws on Crime in California Counties," IZA Discussion Papers 11567, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. McMichael, Benjamin J. & Van Horn, R. Lawrence & Viscusi, W. Kip, 2020. "The impact of cannabis access laws on opioid prescribing," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cannabis initiation; Decriminalization; Hazard rate; Natural experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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