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‘High’ achievers? Cannabis access and academic performance

Author

Listed:
  • Marie, O.

    (Macro, International & Labour Economics)

  • Zölitz, U.N.

    (Macro, International & Labour Economics)

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

  • Marie, O. & Zölitz, U.N., 2015. "‘High’ achievers? Cannabis access and academic performance," Research Memorandum 008, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:umagsb:2015008
    DOI: 10.26481/umagsb.2015008
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    Cited by:

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    7. Williams, Jenny & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Smart, Rosanna, 2019. "De Facto or De Jure? Ethnic Differences in Quit Responses to Legal Protections of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries," IZA Discussion Papers 12114, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    10. 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.
    11. 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.
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    14. 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.
    15. 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.
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    More about this item

    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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