The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana

Anderson, D. Mark; Rees, Daniel I.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3819550

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Thirty‐one individuals were excluded on the basis of residence (one participant missing all residence items, 26 international participants, four domestic participants with missing/invalid ZIP code) resulting in an analytical sample of 3421. Using established definitions of recreational legalization and enactment dates (Supporting information, Table S2), participants’ residence was classified based on ZIP code and assessment date [20, 21].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thirty-one individuals were excluded on the basis of residence (one participant missing all residence items, 26 international participants, four domestic participants with missing/invalid ZIP code) resulting in an analytical sample of 3421. Using established definitions of recreational legalization and enactment dates (Supporting information, Table S2), participants' residence was classified based on ZIP code and assessment date [20,21]. and cannabidiol (CBD) products], 292 lived in states with limited medical cannabis (CBD products), and 92 participants lived in states without any medical cannabis, for a total of 1996 participants residing in recreationally illegal states.…”

Section: Residencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of recreational cannabis legalization on cannabis use: a longitudinal discordant twin study

et al. 2022

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Aims To estimate the effect of recreational legalization on cannabis use frequency and sources of variance across legal environments. Design Longitudinal discordant twin and gene–environment interaction models in twins recruited from birth records and assessed prospectively. Setting The United States, including states with different recreational cannabis policies before and after 2014, when recreational cannabis was first legalized. Participants Two longitudinal, prospectively assessed samples of American twins aged 24–47 (n = 1425 in legal states, n = 1996 in illegal states), including 111 monozygotic pairs discordant for residence. Measurements Current cannabis use frequency (measured continuously and ordinally) was the primary outcome, and the predictor was recreational status of cannabis (legal/illegal) in the participant’s state of residence at the time of assessment. Covariates include age, sex and cannabis use frequency prior to 2014. Findings Accounting for pre‐2014 use, residents of legal states used cannabis more frequently than residents of illegal states (b = 0.21, P = 8.08 × 10−5). Comparing 111 pairs of monozygotic twins discordant for residence confirmed the effect (b = 0.18, P = 0.014). There was inconclusive evidence for genetic influences on cannabis use frequency that were specific to the legal environment [χ2 = 2.9 × 10−9, degrees of freedom (d.f.) = 1, P > 0.999]. Existing genetic influences were moderated by the legal environment, as the genetic correlation between marijuana use before and after legalization was lower in states that legalized (rgenetic = 0.24) compared with states that did not (rgenetic = 0.78, Pdifference = 0.016). Conclusions In the United States, there appears to be a ~ 20% average increase in cannabis use frequency attributable to recreational legalization, consistent across increasingly rigorous designs. In addition, the heritability of cannabis use frequency appears to be moderated by legalization.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Residencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of recreational cannabis legalization on cannabis use: a longitudinal discordant twin study

et al. 2022

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“…We also control for marijuana decriminalization, 0.08 blood alcohol content (BAC), and zero-tolerance youth drunk driving laws in the covariates. Because there are major discrepancies for when marijuana and drunk driving policies went into effect in the medical literature, [35] we reviewed and contrasted the dates from previous studies and government resources, which we detail in the appendix. Incorrect dates were often used in earlier studies and are now endemic throughout the marijuana and drunk driving literatures.…”

Section: Policy Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of cannabis liberalization on suicide and mental illness following recreational access: a state-level longitudinal analysis in the USA

Singer

Rich

Schemenaur

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background. We extend the model introduced by Anderson et al. [M.D. Anderson, D.I. Rees, J.J. Sabia, American Journal of Public Health 104, 2369-2376] to evaluate the public mental health implications of new developments in marijuana policy, such as recreational marijuana access and additional years of data on suicide mortality. Methods. We obtained state-level suicide data from the National Vital Statistics System's Mortality Detail Files for 1999-2018. We used panel regression analysis to examine the association between suicides per 100 000 population and both medical and recreational marijuana access. Three specifications of the equation were employed as a robustness test. Results. After adjusting for economic conditions, alcohol taxes and consumption, time effects, state fixed effects, and state-specific linear time trends, the legalization of recreational marijuana was associated with a 2.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = -5.6, -.03) reduction in the suicide rate for the most rigorous specification, but didn't pass the robustness check at the P < .05 level for the other two specifications. However, recreational marijuana legalization was associated with a 5.4% reduction (95% CI = -9.4%, -1.4%) in suicide rates for males in the 40 to 49 age group, passing the robustness check for all specifications. Conclusion. Suicide rates among men in the 40 to 49 age group fell after recreational marijuana legalization compared with those in states that did not legalize, which is consistent with the results found by Anderson et al. for medical marijuana when that same population was younger. There was no consistent relationship between medical marijuana legalization and suicide rates for any population. Additionally, mental health indicators at the state level were unaffected by either recreational or medical marijuana legalization. We confirm the findings of Anderson et al. (2014), observing no consistent relationship between marijuana legalization and observable mental health outcomes. However, suicide rates increase at lower rates on average relative to other states following recreational marijuana legalization.

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The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana

Cited by 2 publications

References 47 publications

Impacts of recreational cannabis legalization on cannabis use: a longitudinal discordant twin study

Impacts of recreational cannabis legalization on cannabis use: a longitudinal discordant twin study

Effect of cannabis liberalization on suicide and mental illness following recreational access: a state-level longitudinal analysis in the USA

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