娱乐性大麻法律对药物使用与犯罪的影响

中文摘要

娱乐性大麻法律（RML）将出于娱乐目的销售和持有少量大麻合法化，目前已有24个州和哥伦比亚特区采纳此类法律。本研究采用广义双重差分方法，并使用来自多个来源的2000—2019年数据（包括全国药物使用与健康调查、统一犯罪报告、治疗事件数据集以及全国生命统计死亡档案），全面考察娱乐性大麻合法化对药物使用、犯罪以及物质使用治疗机构收治情况的影响。我们的分析表明，采纳RML会增加成年人使用大麻，并减少与大麻相关的逮捕。然而，我们几乎没有发现证据表明RML会增加更强效毒品的使用、物质使用治疗机构的收治人数，或财产犯罪和暴力犯罪。事实上，我们的结果与大麻和阿片类药物互为替代品这一假说一致。

Abstract

Recreational marijuana laws (RMLs), which legalize the sale and possession of small quantities of marijuana for recreational use, have been adopted by 24 states and the District of Columbia. Using a generalized difference-in-differences approach and data for the period 2000–2019 from a variety of sources (the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, the Uniform Crime Reports, the Treatment Episode Data Set, and the National Vital Statistics Mortality files), this study comprehensively examines the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana on drug use, crime, and admissions to substance use treatment facilities. Our analyses show that RML adoption increases the use of marijuana by adults and reduces marijuana-related arrests. However, we find little evidence that RMLs increase the use of harder drugs, admissions to substance use treatment facilities, or property and violent crime. In fact, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that marijuana and opioids are substitutes.