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Marijuana Liberalization Policies and Perinatal Health

Author

Listed:
  • Angélica Meinhofer
  • Allison E. Witman
  • Jesse M. Hinde
  • Kosali I. Simon

Abstract

We studied the effect of marijuana liberalization policies on perinatal health with a multiperiod difference-in-differences estimator that exploited variation in effective dates of medical marijuana laws (MML) and recreational marijuana laws (RML). We found that the proportion of maternal hospitalizations with marijuana use disorder increased by 23% (0.3 percentage points) in the first three years after RML implementation, with larger effects in states authorizing commercial sales of marijuana. This growth was accompanied by a 7% (0.4 percentage points) decline in tobacco use disorder hospitalizations, yielding a net zero effect over all substance use disorder hospitalizations. RMLs were not associated with changes in newborn health. MMLs had no significant effect on maternal substance use disorder hospitalizations nor on newborn health and fairly small effects could be ruled out. In absolute numbers, our findings implied modest or no adverse effects of marijuana liberalization policies on the array of perinatal outcomes considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Angélica Meinhofer & Allison E. Witman & Jesse M. Hinde & Kosali I. Simon, 2021. "Marijuana Liberalization Policies and Perinatal Health," NBER Working Papers 29296, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29296
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    Cited by:

    1. de Chaisemartin, Clément & D’Haultfœuille, Xavier, 2023. "Two-way fixed effects and differences-in-differences estimators with several treatments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 236(2).
    2. Angélica Meinhofer & Allison Witman & Johanna Catherine Maclean & Yuhua Bao, 2022. "Prenatal substance use policies and newborn health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1452-1467, July.
    3. 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.
    4. Weiwei Chen & Johanna Catherine Maclean & Michael T. French, 2026. "Legalizing Cannabis: Implications for Child Maltreatment," NBER Working Papers 34673, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General

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