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Do Medical Marijuana Laws Increase Hard-Drug Use?

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  • Yu-Wei Luke Chu

Abstract

Medical marijuana laws generate significant debate regarding drug policy. For instance, if marijuana is a complement to hard drugs, then these laws would increase the usage not only of marijuana but also of hard drugs. In this paper I study empirically the effects of medical marijuana laws by analyzing data on drug arrests and treatment admissions. I find that medical marijuana laws increase these proxies for marijuana consumption by around 10-15 percent. However, there is no evidence that cocaine and heroin usage increases. From the arrest data, the estimates indicate a 0-15 percent decrease in possession arrests for cocaine and heroin combined. From the treatment data, the estimates show a 20 percent decrease in admissions for heroin-related treatment, although there is no significant effect for cocaine-related treatment. These results suggest that marijuana may be a substitute for heroin, but it is not strongly correlated with cocaine.I believe marijuana should be illegal in our country. It is the pathway to drug usage by our society, which is a great scourge--which is one of the great causes of crime in our cities. (Mitt Romney, October 4, 2007 [Altieri 2012])I believe that marijuana is a gateway drug. (John McCain, August 11, 2007 [Zaitchik 2008])

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  • Yu-Wei Luke Chu, 2015. "Do Medical Marijuana Laws Increase Hard-Drug Use?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(2), pages 481-517.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/684043
    DOI: 10.1086/684043
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