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Comparative Effects of Recreational and Medical Marijuana Laws on Drug Use among Adults and Adolescents

Author

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  • Alex Hollingsworth
  • Coady Wing
  • Ashley C. Bradford

Abstract

Thirty-four states have medical marijuana laws, and 10 states have recreational marijuana laws. Little research compares how these two types of laws affect drug consumption in the general population or in particular age groups. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that recreational laws increase past-year marijuana use by 25 percent among adults and by 10 percent among adolescents. In contrast, medical laws increase adult use by only 5 percent and have a negligible effect on adolescent use. We also find that recreational marijuana dispensaries are an important driver of the increase in marijuana use for adults 26 and older. Our results suggest that medical laws succeed in mitigating recreational (nonmedical) use, that recreational laws produce large increases in marijuana use in the general population, and that underage marijuana use may be an important problem with existing implementations of recreational marijuana laws.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Hollingsworth & Coady Wing & Ashley C. Bradford, 2022. "Comparative Effects of Recreational and Medical Marijuana Laws on Drug Use among Adults and Adolescents," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(3), pages 515-554.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/721267
    DOI: 10.1086/721267
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    Cited by:

    1. Thanh Lu, 2021. "Marijuana legalization and household spending on food and alcohol," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1684-1696, July.
    2. Cullen T. Wallace & Chris Clark & Brent Evans, 2025. "Marijuana legalization and drug abuse as a cause for entry into foster care," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 277-293, March.
    3. Alberto Ortega, 2023. "The highs and the lows: Recreational marijuana laws and mental health treatment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(10), pages 2173-2191, October.
    4. Rahi Abouk & Keshar M. Ghimire & Johanna Catherine Maclean & David Powell, 2023. "Pain Management and Work Capacity: Evidence From Workers’ Compensation and Marijuana Legalization," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 737-770, June.
    5. Borbely, Daniel & Lenhart, Otto & Norris, Jonathan & Romiti, Agnese, 2022. "Marijuana Legalization and Mental Health," IZA Discussion Papers 15729, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Shyam Raman & Johanna Catherine Maclean & W. David Bradford & Coleman Drake, 2023. "Recreational cannabis and opioid distribution," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 747-754, April.
    7. Dave, Dhaval & Liang, Yang & Pesko, Michael F. & Phillips, Serena & Sabia, Joseph J., 2023. "Have recreational marijuana laws undermined public health progress on adult tobacco use?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Hollingsworth, Alex & Wing, Coady, 2020. "Tactics for design and inference in synthetic control studies: An applied example using high-dimensional data," SocArXiv fc9xt, Center for Open Science.
    9. Drake, Coleman & Nagy, Dylan & Eisenberg, Matthew D. & Slusky, David, 2025. "Medical cannabis dispensary availability improved self-reported mental health among older adults in New York," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    10. Mathur, Neil K. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2023. "Marijuana legalization and opioid deaths," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Dhaval M. Dave & Yang Liang & Caterina Muratori & Joseph J. Sabia, 2025. "The effects of recreational marijuana legalization on employment and earnings," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 1-41, June.
    12. Coleman Drake & Jiebing Wen & Jesse Hinde & Hefei Wen, 2021. "Recreational cannabis laws and opioid‐related emergency department visit rates," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(10), pages 2595-2605, September.
    13. Mir M. Ali & Chandler McClellan & Ryan Mutter & Daniel I. Rees, 2023. "Recreational marijuana laws and the misuse of prescription opioids: Evidence from National Survey on Drug Use and Health microdata," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 277-301, February.
    14. repec:osf:socarx:fc9xt_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Sabia, Joseph J. & Dave, Dhaval & Alotaibi, Fawaz & Rees, Daniel I., 2024. "The effects of recreational marijuana laws on drug use and crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    16. Anderson, D. Mark & Rees, Daniel I., 2021. "The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana," IZA Discussion Papers 14292, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Amanda C. Cook & E. Tice Sirmans & Rhet A. Smith, 2025. "The Effects of Medical and Recreational Cannabis Laws on Prescription Drug Claims in Commercial Group Insurance Markets," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(8), pages 1396-1409, August.
    18. Smart, Rosanna & Doremus, Jacqueline, 2023. "The kids aren’t alright: The effects of medical marijuana market size on adolescents," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    19. Drake, Coleman & Nagy, Dylan & Slusky, David & Eisenberg, Matthew, 2024. "Medical Cannabis Availability and Mental Health: Evidence from New York's Medical Cannabis Program," IZA Discussion Papers 17022, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Antonios M. Koumpias & Charles Courtemanche & Jordan W. Jones & Daniela Zapata, 2024. "Revisiting the connection between state Medicaid expansions and adult mortality," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 91(1), pages 187-212, July.
    21. Shyam Raman & Ashley C. Bradford, 2022. "Recreational cannabis legalizations associated with reductions in prescription drug utilization among Medicaid enrollees," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1513-1521, July.

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