The effect of alcohol availability on marijuana use: Evidence from the minimum legal drinking age

This paper exploits the discontinuity created by the minimum legal drinking age of 21 years to estimate the causal effect of increased alcohol availability on marijuana use. We find that consumption of marijuana decreases sharply at age 21, while consumption of alcohol increases, suggesting that mar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health economics 2012-01, Vol.31 (1), p.112-121
Main Authors: Crost, Benjamin, Guerrero, Santiago
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Age Factors
Alcohol
Alcohol consumption
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcohol Drinking - legislation & jurisprudence
Alcohol use
Alcoholic Beverages - supply & distribution
Cannabis
Causality
Consumption
Discontinuity
Drug use
Drunk driving
Female
Health administration
Humans
Liquor laws & regulations
Male
Marijuana
Marijuana Abuse - epidemiology
Minimum legal drinking age
Public policy
Regression discontinuity
Sex Distribution
Studies
Substance abuse
Substitution products
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
Youth
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Summary:This paper exploits the discontinuity created by the minimum legal drinking age of 21 years to estimate the causal effect of increased alcohol availability on marijuana use. We find that consumption of marijuana decreases sharply at age 21, while consumption of alcohol increases, suggesting that marijuana and alcohol are substitutes. We further find that the substitution effect between alcohol and marijuana is stronger for women than for men. Our results suggest that policies designed to limit alcohol use have the unintended consequence of increasing marijuana use.
ISSN:0167-6296
1879-1646
DOI:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.12.005