TY - JOUR PY - 2012// TI - The effect of alcohol availability on marijuana use: Evidence from the minimum legal drinking age JO - Journal of health economics A1 - Crost, Benjamin A1 - Guerrero, Santiago SP - 112 EP - 121 VL - 31 IS - 1 N2 - 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.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0167-6296 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.12.005 ID - ref1 ER -