摘要：The U.S. is currently in the midst of an opioid epidemic. In 2015, an estimated 12.5 million people misused opioid
prescriptions. In 2016 alone, approximately 62,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose. The enactment of
medical marijuana laws may help stem the rise in these deaths if medical marijuana can be used as a substitute for
more powerful opioid pain relievers. Currently, 29 states have some form of a medical marijuana law in place, with
California being the first in 1996 and West Virginia being the most recent in 2017. In this study, we use state level data
from the Centers for Disease Control to test the hypothesis that medical marijuana can act as a prescribed substitute
for opioid pain relievers and have the potential benefit of reducing deaths related to opioids in states with these laws.
We use a difference-in-difference framework that takes advantage of variation in the timing of the enactment of these
laws across states to identify whether they affect opioid-related death rates. Unlike previous work, we find little
evidence that the enactment of MMLs has reduced opioid death rates. However, we do find that the presence of a
legal dispensary may reduce opioid deaths. This information is useful for policymakers who are increasingly looking
for policies to reduce opioid deaths.
