Date of Award

2021

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Science (MS)

Program

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

Department

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

College

Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources

Faculty Advisor

March, Raymond

Description

The opioid epidemic constitutes one of the worst drug crises in the history of U.S. State-level policies, in general, have done little to prevent prescription opioid abuse. A noteworthy exception to other clinical efforts to curb opioid abuse is marijuana. Despite preliminary evidence, many states are hesitant to introduce legislation to expand access to medicinal marijuana or liberalize laws on the recreational use of marijuana, fearing additional research is needed. Utilizing a synthetic control method and annual state-level data from 2006 to 2018, this study examines the effect of recreational marijuana legalization on opioid abuse. The findings strongly indicate marijuana legalization is not a statistically significant factor in reducing opioid abuse in Colorado State. This provides important implications for states designing policies to provide opioid addicts with marijuana substitutes and states hoping to address concerning rises in opioid abuse. Further research needs to be done to develop a robust understanding.

Rights

NDSU policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0001-5739-2146

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/32617

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