This paper sheds light on previous inconsistencies identified in the literature regarding the relationship between medical marijuana laws (MMLs) and recreational marijuana use by closely examining the importance of policy dimensions (registration requirements, home cultivation, dispensaries) and the timing of when particular policy dimensions are enacted. Using data from our own legal analysis of state MMLs, we evaluate which features are associated with adult and youth recreational and heavy use by linking these policy variables to data from the Treatment Episodes Data System (TEDS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97). We employ differences-in-differences techniques, controlling for state and year fixed effects, allowing us to exploit within-state policy changes. We find that while simple dichotomous indicators of MML laws are not positively associated with marijuana use or abuse, such measures hide the positive influence legal dispensaries have on adult and youth use, particularly heavy use. Sensitivity analyses that help address issues of policy endogeneity and actual implementation of dispensaries support our main conclusion that not all MML laws are the same. Dimensions of these policies, in particular legal protection of dispensaries, can lead to greater recreational marijuana use and abuse among adults and those under the legal age of 21 relative to medical marijuana laws without this supply source.

Recent work finds that medical marijuana laws reduce the daily doses filled for opioid analgesics among Medicare Part-D and Medicaid enrollees, as well as population-wide opioid overdose deaths. We replicate the result for opioid overdose deaths and explore the potential mechanism. The key feature of a medical marijuana law that facilitates a reduction in overdose death rates is a relatively liberal allowance for dispensaries. As states have become more stringent in their regulation of dispensaries, the protective value generally has fallen. These findings suggest that broader access to medical marijuana facilitates substitution of marijuana for powerful and addictive opioids.

IMPORTANCE Historical shifts are occurring in marijuana policy. The effect of legalizing marijuana for recreational use on rates of adolescent marijuana use is a topic of considerable debate.OBJECTIVE To examine the association between the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Washington and Colorado in 2012 and the subsequent perceived harmfulness and use of marijuana by adolescents. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSWe used data of 253 902 students in eighth, 10th, and 12th grades from 2010 to 2015 from Monitoring the Future, a national, annual, cross-sectional survey of students in secondary schools in the contiguous United States. Difference-indifference estimates compared changes in perceived harmfulness of marijuana use and in past-month marijuana use in Washington and Colorado prior to recreational marijuana legalization (2010-2012) with postlegalization (2013-2015) vs the contemporaneous trends in other states that did not legalize recreational marijuana use in this period. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESPerceived harmfulness of marijuana use (great or moderate risk to health from smoking marijuana occasionally) and marijuana use (past 30 days). RESULTSOf the 253 902 participants, 120 590 of 245 065(49.2%) were male, and the mean (SD) age was 15.6 (1.7) years. In Washington, perceived harmfulness declined 14.2% and 16.1% among eighth and 10th graders, respectively, while marijuana use increased 2.0% and 4.1% from 2010-2012 to 2013-2015. In contrast, among states that did not legalize recreational marijuana use, perceived harmfulness decreased by 4.9% and 7.2% among eighth and 10th graders, respectively, and marijuana use decreased by 1.3% and 0.9% over the same period. Difference-in-difference estimates comparing Washington vs states that did not legalize recreational drug use indicated that these differences were significant for perceived harmfulness (eighth

Background Adolescent marijuana use is associated with adverse later-life consequences, so identifying factors underlying adolescent use is of substantial public health importance. The relationship of U.S. state medical marijuana laws (MML) to adolescent marijuana use has been controversial. Such laws could convey a message about marijuana acceptability that increases marijuana use soon after passage, even if implementation is delayed or the law narrowly limits use. We used 24 years of U.S. national data to examine the relationship between state MML and adolescent marijuana use. Methods Data came from 1,098,270 U.S. adolescents in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade in the national Monitoring the Future annual surveys conducted between 1991–2014. The main outcome was any marijuana use in the prior 30 days. Using multilevel regression modeling, we examined marijuana use in adolescents nested within states, including whether marijuana use was higher overall in states that ever passed a MML up to 2014, and whether the risk of use changed after state MML were passed. Individual-, school- and state-level covariates were controlled. Findings Overall, marijuana use was more prevalent in states that enacted MML up to 2014 than in other states (AOR=1.27, 95%CI=1.07–1.51). Pre- and post-MML risk did not differ in the full sample (AOR=0.92, 95%CI=0.82–1.04). A significant interaction (p<0.001) indicated differential post-MML risk by grade. In 8th graders, post-MML use decreased (AOR=0.73, 95%CI=0.63–0.84), while no significant change occurred in 10th or 12th graders. Results were generally robust across sensitivity analyses. Interpretation Previous evidence and this study show that MML passage does not result in increased adolescent marijuana use. However, overall, adolescent use is higher in states that ever enacted MML than in other states. State-level risk factors other than MML may contribute to both marijuana use and MML, warranting investigation. An observed 8th-grade post-MML decrease also merits further study. Funding U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York State Psychiatric Institute.

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Until November 2012, no modern jurisdiction had removed the prohibition on the commercial production, distribution, and sale of marijuana for nonmedical purposes-not even the Netherlands. Government agencies in Colorado and Washington are now charged with granting production and processing licenses and developing regulations for legal marijuana, and other states and countries may follow. Our goal is not to address whether marijuana legalization is a good or bad idea but, rather, to help policymakers understand the decisions they face and some lessons learned from research on public health approaches to regulating alcohol and tobacco over the past century.

Opioid use disorders are a significant public health problem, affecting over 2 million individuals in the US. Although opioid agonist treatment, predominantly offered in licensed methadone clinics, is both effective and cost-effective, many individuals do not receive it. Buprenorphine, approved in 2002 for prescription by waivered physicians, could improve opioid agonist treatment access for individuals unable or unwilling to receive methadone. We examine the extent to which the geographic distribution of waivered physicians has enhanced potential opioid agonist treatment access, particularly in non-metropolitan areas with fewer methadone clinics. We found that while the approximately 90% of counties classified as methadone clinic shortage areas remained constant, buprenorphine shortage areas fell from 99% of counties in 2002 to 51% in 2011, lowering the US population percentage residing in opioid treatment shortage counties to approximately 10%. The increase in buprenorphine-waivered physicians has dramatically increased potential access to opioid agonist treatment, especially in non-metropolitan counties.

IMPORTANCEGiven high rates of opioid-related fatal overdoses, improving naloxone access has become a priority. States have implemented different types of naloxone access laws (NALs) and there is controversy over which of these policies, if any, can curb overdose deaths. We hypothesize that NALs granting direct authority to pharmacists to provide naloxone will have the greatest potential for reducing fatal overdoses.OBJECTIVES To identify which types of NALs, if any, are associated with reductions in fatal overdoses involving opioids and examine possible implications for nonfatal overdoses.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS State-level changes in both fatal and nonfatal overdoses from 2005 to 2016 were examined across the 50 states and the District of Columbia after adoption of NALs using a difference-in-differences approach while estimating the magnitude of the association for each year relative to time of adoption. Policy environments across full state populations were represented in the primary data set. The association for 3 types of NALs was associated: NALs providing direct authority to pharmacists to prescribe, NALs providing indirect authority to prescribe, and other NALs. The study was conducted from January 2017 to January 2019.EXPOSURES Fatal and nonfatal overdoses in states that adopted NAL laws were compared with those in states that did not adopt NAL laws. Further consideration was given to the type of NAL passed in terms of its association with these outcomes. We hypothesize that NALs granting direct authority to pharmacists to provide naloxone will have the greatest potential for reducing fatal overdoses. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESFatal overdoses involving opioids were the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were nonfatal overdoses resulting in emergency department visits and Medicaid naloxone prescriptions. RESULTSIn this evaluation of the dispensing of naloxone across the United States, NALs granting direct authority to pharmacists were associated with significant reductions in fatal overdoses, but they may also increase nonfatal overdoses seen in emergency department visits. The effect sizes for fatal overdoses grew over time relative to adoption of the NALs. These policies were estimated to reduce opioid-rated fatal overdoses by 0.387 (95% CI, 0.119-0.656; P = .007) per 100 000 people in 3 or more years after adoption. There was little evidence of an association for indirect authority to dispense (increase by 0.