The kids aren’t alright: The effects of medical marijuana market size on adolescents

Rosanna Smart and Jacqueline Doremus

Journal of Health Economics, 2023, vol. 87, issue C

Abstract: We exploit shocks to US federal enforcement policy to assess how legal medical marijuana market size affects youth marijuana use and consequences for youth traffic-related fatalities. Using hand-collected data on state medical marijuana patient rates to develop a novel measure of market size, we find that legal market growth increases youth marijuana use. Likely mechanisms are lower prices and easier access. Youth die more frequently from alcohol-involved car accidents, suggesting complementarities for youths. The consequences of marijuana legalization for youth are not immediate, but depend on how supply-side regulations affect production and prices.

Keywords: Marijuana; Cannabis legalization; Risky behavior; Illicit markets; Substitution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H70 I12 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:87:y:2023:i:c:s0167629622001126

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102700

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