ArticleAmerican journal of public health2014
Medical marijuana laws and suicides by gender and age.
Article in American journal of public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- Medical cannabis legalization and the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Evidence for Public Policies to Prevent Suicide Death in the United States.Annual review of public health · 2025Review
- Cannabis Policies, Cannabis, and Opioids in Suicide and Undetermined Intent Death.American journal of preventive medicine · 2025Article
- Exploring the impact of drug decriminalization and legalization policies on mental health outcomes: A scoping review.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Acute cannabis intoxication among the paediatric population.Frontiers in toxicology · 2025Review
- Editorial: Marijuana Legalization and Suicide in Adolescents and Transitional-Age Youth: Important Future Directions for This Line of Research.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2024Article
- Association Between Marijuana Laws and Suicide Among 12- to 25-Year-Olds in the United States From 2000 to 2019.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2024Article
- Health, safety, and socioeconomic impacts of cannabis liberalization laws: An evidence and gap map.Campbell systematic reviews · 2023Article
- Association of Recreational Cannabis Legalization With Alcohol Use Among Adults in the US, 2010 to 2019.JAMA health forum · 2022Article
- The effect of pill mill legislation on suicides.Health services research · 2022Article
- The impact of school opening model on SARS-CoV-2 community incidence and mortality.Nature medicine · 2021Observational
- State Variation in Long-Term Care Availability, Regulation, and Cost and Suicide Mortality Among Older Adults in the United States: 2010-2015.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2021Article
- Recreational cannabis laws and opioid-related emergency department visit rates.Health economics · 2021Article
- Evaluation of State Cannabis Laws and Rates of Self-harm and Assault.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- PROTOCOL: The effects of cannabis liberalization laws on health, safety, and socioeconomic outcomes: An evidence and gap map.Campbell systematic reviews · 2021Article
- Perceptions of quality and safety in cannabis acquisition amongst young gay and bisexual men living with HIV/AIDS who use cannabis: Impact of legalisation and dispensaries.The International journal on drug policy · 2021Article
- Prospects for the Use of Cannabinoids in Psychiatric Disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Review
- The Effectiveness ofThe Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2020Article
- Changes in alcohol and cigarette consumption in response to medical and recreational cannabis legalization: Evidence from U.S. state tax receipt data.The International journal on drug policy · 2020Article
- Medical cannabis patterns of use and substitution for opioids & other pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and illicit substances; results from a cross-sectional survey of authorized patients.Harm reduction journal · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesWe estimated the association between legalizing medical marijuana and suicides.
methodsWe obtained state-level suicide data from the National Vital Statistics System's Mortality Detail Files for 1990-2007. We used regression analysis to examine the association between medical marijuana legalization and suicides per 100 000 population.
resultsAfter adjustment for economic conditions, state policies, and state-specific linear time trends, the association between legalizing medical marijuana and suicides was not statistically significant at the .05 level. However, legalization was associated with a 10.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = -17.1%, -3.7%) and 9.4% (95% CI = -16.1%, -2.4%) reduction in the suicide rate of men aged 20 through 29 years and 30 through 39 years, respectively. Estimates for females were less precise and sensitive to model specification.
conclusionsSuicides among men aged 20 through 39 years fell after medical marijuana legalization compared with those in states that did not legalize. The negative relationship between legalization and suicides among young men is consistent with the hypothesis that marijuana can be used to cope with stressful life events. However, this relationship may be explained by alcohol consumption. The mechanism through which legalizing medical marijuana reduces suicides among young men remains a topic for future study.
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