Decriminalization and Marijuana Smoking Prevalence: Evidence From Australia

Abstract

This paper uses the 2001 wave of National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) to assess the impact of marijuana decriminalization policy on marijuana smoking prevalence in Australia. Both parametric and non-parametric methods are used. The parametric approach postulates an endogenous probit switching model and its nested binary probit, endogenous bivariate probit and two-part models to estimate this impact. The non-parametric approach uses the propensity score stratification matching to compute alternative measures of treatment effect.Specification analysis is conducted and it appears that our sample size is not large enough to perform a reliable non-parametric estimation. It also shows that the endogenous probit switching model, which takes into account selection on observables and selection on unobservables, can provide some useful information on the average treatment effect of decriminalization as well as the effects of other socio-demographic factors on marijuana use. The parametric approach suggests that decriminalization raises the probability of smoking marijuana by 16.3%. JEL Classification: I12, I18

The pros and cons of prohibiting drugs

“…Chaloupka (1995, 1998) and Pacula, Chriqui, and King (2003) found the impact of depenalization on marijuana smoking in the United States to have been positive and significant. Similar positive effects in Australia have been reported by Williams (2004), Zhao and Harris (2004), and Damrongplasit, Hsio, and Zhao (2010). The latter study is particularly noteworthy because it controlled for the possibility that cannabis users might migrate to depenalization states.…”

Trends in use of marijuana and attitudes toward marijuana among youth before and after decriminalization: The case of California 2007–2013

“…Analysis of nationally-representative data from the late 1980s onward supports the conclusion that decriminalization is associated with a higher likelihood marijuana use, by about 8% (Saffer and Chaloupka 1999) to 16% (Damrongplasit, Hsiao et al 2010). Analysis of Monitoring the Future data from 1992–1994 led to the conclusion that “youths living in decriminalized states are significantly more likely to report currently using marijuana and may consume more frequently” (Chaloupka, Pacula et al 1999).…”

Chronic diseases and labour force participation in Australia

“…The "treatment effect" (Greene, 2004;Damrongplasit et al, 2007) of having a particular chronic health condition on the probability of labour force participation for an individual X can be estimated as the difference in the predicted conditional probabilities of labour force participation with and without a health condition:…”