ArticleHealth economics2021
Recreational cannabis laws and opioid-related emergency department visit rates.
Article in Health economics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between state cannabis laws and opioid outcomes: A systematic review.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Pooled 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
- Do Medical and Recreational Marijuana State Laws Impact Trends in Postoperative Opioid Prescriptions Among Patients Who Have Undergone TJA?Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Article
- The relationship of medical and recreational cannabis laws with opioid misuse and opioid use disorder in the USA: Does it depend on prior history of cannabis use?The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- A systematic review of macro-, meso, and micro-level harm reduction interventions addressing the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic.Drugs (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Mental Health Conditions- and Substance Use-Associated Emergency Department Visits during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nevada, USA.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Association of Recreational Cannabis Legalization With Alcohol Use Among Adults in the US, 2010 to 2019.JAMA health forum · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The opioid epidemic in the United States has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2021, roughly a third of Americans now live in a state with a recreational cannabis law (RCL). Recent evidence indicates RCLs could be a harm reduction tool to address the opioid epidemic. Individuals may use cannabis to manage pain, as well as to relieve opioid withdrawal symptoms, though it does not directly treat opioid use disorder. It is thus unclear whether RCLs are an effective policy tool to reduce adverse opioid-related health outcomes. In this study, we examine the impact of RCLs on a key opioid-related adverse health outcome: opioid-related emergency department (ED) visit rates. We estimate event study models using nearly comprehensive ED data from 29 states from 2011 to 2017. We find that RCLs reduce opioid-related ED visit rates by roughly 7.6% for two quarters after implementation. These effects are driven by men and adults aged 25-44. These effects dissipate after 6 months. Our estimates indicate RCLs did not increase opioid-related ED visits. We conclude that, while cannabis liberalization may offer some help in curbing the opioid epidemic, it is likely not a panacea.
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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.