142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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297086
Impacts of State Medical Marijuana Laws on Marijuana Use, Perceived Access, and Social Norms

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 2:50 PM - 3:10 PM

Yuyan Shi , Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Victoria D. Ojeda, PhD, MPH , Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Todd Gilmer, PhD , Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, UCSD, La Jolla, CA
Objectives. Prior research suggests that medical marijuana laws (MMLs) have no effects on prevalence of marijuana use among adolescents and adults. Yet, adult-based studies employed aggregate state-level data, and adolescent-based studies relied on biennial surveys with limited state-year observations. This study examines the effects of MMLs on the prevalence of marijuana use and provides new evidence regarding perceived access to marijuana, and social norms against use by analyzing detailed individual-level data for an eight-year period.

Methods.  Individual observations (adolescents=175,900, adults=356,600) were obtained from SAMHSA’s annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health confidential data 2004-2011. Difference-in-difference regression models estimated the within-state changes in marijuana outcomes before and after passing MMLs versus control states experiencing no changes in MMLs status.

Results.  Among adults, passing MMLs increased the likelihood of past-month marijuana use (OR=1.17, p=.014) and past-year frequent use (OR=1.20, p=.012), and decreased the likelihood of perceiving frequent use harmful (OR=.91, p=.039). No discernable effects on MMLs were found on perceived access to marijuana. Adolescents were more likely to perceive access to marijuana as easy after passing MMLs (OR=1.13, p=.016), but there is no evidence suggesting that passing MMLs affected adolescents’ marijuana use or social norms.

Conclusions. This unparalleled and timely analysis suggests that MMLs has increased the use of marijuana and undermined the social norms against use among adults, whereas MMLs have had limited effects on marijuana outcomes among adolescents. Future research needs to examine the long-term impacts of MMLs among adolescents.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Assess the consequences of passing state medical marijuana laws in terms of use of marijuana, access to marijuana, and attitudes towards marijuana use among adolescents and adults in US

Keyword(s): Public Health Policy, Drug Abuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a health policy analyst and health economist, my research has focused on policy and economic analysis of addictive behaviors and substance use. I am the instructor for courses on this subject at both undergraduate and graduate levels. My research work has appeared on academic journals, conferences and research reports.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4296.0: State & Local Changes in Marijuana Laws, Use and Access