14 de dezembro de 2024

Does Liberalizing Cannabis Laws Increase Cannabis Use?

5 de abril de 20144min10

acesse:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.03.006

Abstract

A key question in the ongoing policy debate over cannabis’ legal status is whether liberalizing cannabis laws leads to an increase in cannabis use. This paper provides new evidence on the impact of a specific type of liberalization, decriminalization, on initiation into cannabis use. Our identification strategy exploits variation in the timing of cannabis policy reforms and our estimation framework marries a difference-in-difference approach with a discrete time duration model. Our results reveal evidence of both heterogeneity and dynamics in the response of cannabis uptake to decriminalization. Overall, we find that the impact of decriminalization is concentrated amongst minors, who have a higher rate of uptake in the first five years following its introduction.

Keywords

  • C41;
  • I10;
  • I18

Keywords

  • Cannabis initiation;
  • Decriminalization;
  • Hazard rate;
  • Natural experiment

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Sobre a UNIAD

A Unidade de Pesquisa em álcool e Drogas (UNIAD) foi fundada em 1994 pelo Prof. Dr. Ronaldo Laranjeira e John Dunn, recém-chegados da Inglaterra. A criação contou, na época, com o apoio do Departamento de Psiquiatria da UNIFESP. Inicialmente (1994-1996) funcionou dentro do Complexo Hospital São Paulo, com o objetivo de atender funcionários dependentes.



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