Cloudy with a chance of munchies: Assessing the impact of recreational marijuana legalization on obesity

Raymond J. March, Veeshan Rayamajhee and Glenn L. Furton

Health Economics, 2022, vol. 31, issue 12, 2609-2629

Abstract: Obesity in the US arguably constitutes the most significant health epidemic over the past century. Recent legislative changes allowing for recreational marijuana use further create a need to better understand the relationship between marijuana use and health choices, leading to obesity. We examine this relationship by using a synthetic control approach to examine the impact of legalized recreational marijuana access on obesity rates by comparing Washington State to a synthetically constructed counterfactual. We find that recreational marijuana's introduction did not lead to increased obesity rates and may have led to decreases in obesity.

Date: 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4598

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:31:y:2022:i:12:p:2609-2629

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