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'High' Achievers? Cannabis Access and Academic Performance

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  • Olivier Marie
  • Ulf Zölitz

Abstract

This paper investigates how legal cannabis access affects student performance. Identification comes from an exceptional policy introduced in the city of Maastricht which discriminated legal access based on individuals’ nationality. We apply a difference-in-difference approach using administrative panel data on over 54,000 course grades of local students enrolled at Maastricht University before and during the partial cannabis prohibition. We find that the academic performance of students who are no longer legally permitted to buy cannabis increases substantially. Grade improvements are driven by younger students, and the effects are stronger for women and low performers. In line with how THC consumption affects cognitive functioning, we find that performance gains are larger for courses that require more numerical/mathematical skills. We investigate the underlying channels using students’ course evaluations and present suggestive evidence that performance gains are driven by improved understanding of material rather than changes in students’ study effort.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Marie & Ulf Zölitz, 2015. "'High' Achievers? Cannabis Access and Academic Performance," CESifo Working Paper Series 5304, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5304
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    Cited by:

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    3. Coveney, Max & Oosterveen, Matthijs, 2021. "What drives ability peer effects?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Christopher D. Blake & Danna Kang Thomas & Joshua Hess, 2024. "Higher education: The impact of recreational marijuana on college applications," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(2), pages 259-277, April.
    5. 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.
    6. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Gershenson, Seth, 2018. "High times: The effect of medical marijuana laws on student time use," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 142-153.
    7. Chu, Luke Yu-Wei & Gershenson, Seth, 2016. "High times: The effect of medical marijuana laws on student time use," Working Paper Series 19417, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    8. Christopher A. Ambrose & Benjamin W. Cowan & Robert E. Rosenman, 2021. "Geographical access to recreational marijuana," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(4), pages 778-807, October.
    9. Ahmed El Fatmaoui, 2024. "From high school to higher education: Is recreational marijuana a consumption amenity for US college students?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(3), pages 1024-1045, July.
    10. Matthias Parey & Imran Rasul, 2021. "Measuring the Market Size for Cannabis: A New Approach Using Forensic Economics," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(350), pages 297-338, April.
    11. Carrieri, Vincenzo & Madio, Leonardo & Principe, Francesco, 2019. "Light cannabis and organized crime: Evidence from (unintended) liberalization in Italy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 63-76.
    12. Stephanie Cheng & Pengkai Lin & Yinliang Tan & Yuchen Zhang, 2023. "“High” innovators? Marijuana legalization and regional innovation," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(3), pages 685-703, March.
    13. Nibbering, Didier & Oosterveen, Matthijs & Silva, Pedro Luís, 2022. "Clustered Local Average Treatment Effects: Fields of Study and Academic Student Progress," IZA Discussion Papers 15159, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Gunadi, Christian, 2021. "Does Expanding Access to Cannabis Affect Traffic Crashes? County-Level Evidence from Recreational Marijuana Dispensary Sales in Colorado," GLO Discussion Paper Series 964, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Kalbfuss, Jörg & Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2024. "Medical marijuana laws and mental health in the United States," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 307-322, July.
    16. Hansen, Benjamin & Miller, Keaton & Weber, Caroline, 2020. "Federalism, partial prohibition, and cross-border sales: Evidence from recreational marijuana," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    17. Borbely, Daniel & Lenhart, Otto & Norris, Jonathan & Romiti, Agnese, 2022. "Marijuana Legalization and Mental Health," IZA Discussion Papers 15729, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Mike Langen & Erdal Aydin & Piet Eichholtz & Nils Kok, 2022. "Getting high or getting low? the external effects of coffeeshops on house prices," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(2), pages 565-592, June.
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    20. Christian Gunadi, 2022. "Does expanding access to cannabis affect traffic crashes? County‐level evidence from recreational marijuana dispensary sales in Colorado," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(10), pages 2244-2268, October.
    21. Mezza, Alvaro & Buchinsky, Moshe, 2021. "Illegal drugs, education, and labor market outcomes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 223(2), pages 454-484.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    cannabis; legalization; student performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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