ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2012
Medical marijuana laws in 50 states: investigating the relationship between state legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use, abuse and dependence.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 215 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
215 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- How adolescent cannabis use reshapes the developing brain - a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- The impact of cannabis legalization and decriminalization on acute poisoning: A systematic review.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Clinician responses to cannabis use during pregnancy and lactation: a systematic review and integrative mixed-methods research synthesis.Family practice · 2022Pooled it
- The clouded debate: A systematic review of comparative longitudinal studies examining the impact of recreational cannabis legalization on key public health outcomes.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of the effectiveness of employer-led interventions for drug misuse.Journal of occupational health · 2020Pooled it
- The Role of Acculturation and Alcohol Problems on Frequency of Cannabis Use Among Latinas at Risk of an Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancy.Substance use & misuse · 2019Trial
- Tobacco use during cannabis cessation: Use patterns and impact on abstinence in a National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network study.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Trial
- The Importance of Context: Neighborhood Drinking Norms and Heavy Drinking Among HIV Patients.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2016Trial
- Prevalence and correlates of a lifetime cannabis use disorder among pregnant former tobacco smokers.Addictive behaviors · 2016Trial
- Naltrexone Maintenance Decreases Cannabis Self-Administration and Subjective Effects in Daily Cannabis Smokers.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2015Trial
- Does the total consumption model apply to cannabis use?Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Parental influence on youth cannabis use: The interplay between disapproval and warmth.Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- Regulatory sandboxes as an innovative platform for testing Cannabis edibles in Germany.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Alcohol, Tobacco and Illicit Drug Use During Pregnancy in the Longitudinal BELpREG Cohort in Belgium Between 2022 and 2024.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- The association between state cannabis policies and cannabis use among adults and youth, United States, 2002-2019.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Evaluating Online Cannabis Health Information for Thai Breast Cancer Survivors Using the Quality Evaluation Scoring Tool (QUEST): Mixed Method Study.JMIR cancer · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic and psychosocial determinants of substance misuse - a national perspective.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2024Review
- Substituting Medical Cannabis for Medications Among Patients with Rheumatic Conditions in the United States and Canada.ACR open rheumatology · 2024Article
- A Bivariate Twin Study of Lifetime cannabis Initiation and Lifetime Regular Tobacco Smoking Across Three Different Countries.Behavior genetics · 2024Article
- An examination of cannabis use motives among couples with intimate partner violence and alcohol use disorder.The American journal on addictions · 2024Article
155 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMarijuana is the most frequently used illicit substance in the United States. Little is known of the role that macro-level factors, including community norms and laws related to substance use, play in determining marijuana use, abuse and dependence. We tested the relationship between state-level legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use, abuse, and dependence.
methodsWe used the second wave of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a national survey of adults aged 18+ (n=34,653). Selected analyses were replicated using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a yearly survey of ∼68,000 individuals aged 12+. We measured past-year cannabis use and DSM-IV abuse/dependence.
resultsIn NESARC, residents of states with medical marijuana laws had higher odds of marijuana use (OR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.49-2.47) and marijuana abuse/dependence (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.22-2.67) than residents of states without such laws. Marijuana abuse/dependence was not more prevalent among marijuana users in these states (OR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.67-1.60), suggesting that the higher risk for marijuana abuse/dependence in these states was accounted for by higher rates of use. In NSDUH, states that legalized medical marijuana also had higher rates of marijuana use.
conclusionsStates that legalized medical marijuana had higher rates of marijuana use. Future research needs to examine whether the association is causal, or is due to an underlying common cause, such as community norms supportive of the legalization of medical marijuana and of marijuana use.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.