Dissertation
Three Essays on the Impacts of Recreational Marijuana Legalization
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005487
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/119163
Abstract
This dissertation is comprised of three independent, but closely related papers on the impacts of recreational marijuana laws (RMLs). In the first paper, my coauthors and I examine the effect of changes in distance to recreational marijuana retailers in Washington State on adult marijuana use. We find that as retailers get closer to where people live, the probability of past-month marijuana use increases, as well as the frequency of use. Upon stratifying the data, we find that young adults (ages 18-26), women, and rural residents experience stronger effects. In the second paper, I examine the effect of distance from school to marijuana retailers on a variety of substance use behaviors and perceptions among adolescents in Washington. I find that changes in distance to marijuana retailers do not affect adolescents as a whole, however high-risk subgroups of 12th graders experience an increase in past-month marijuana use as retailers get closer to their schools. In the third paper, I extend the literature on the effects of marijuana policies on substance abuse treatment admissions related to opioids, as well as a less-examined category of substances, namely, benzodiazepines. The results indicate that RMLs, particularly those with provisions for retail sales to adults, are associated with significant increases in treatment admissions rates for opioids and insignificant increases in admissions rates for benzodiazepines and other sedatives.
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Details
- Title
- Three Essays on the Impacts of Recreational Marijuana Legalization
- Creators
- Christopher Allen Ambrose
- Contributors
- Benjamin W Cowan (Advisor)Robert E Rosenman (Committee Member)Bidisha Mandal (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- School of Economic Sciences
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 142
- Identifiers
- 99900592259901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation