Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP8499
Authors: Jan C. van Ours; Jenny Williams
Abstract: This paper investigates whether cannabis use affects physical and mental health. To do so, information on prime aged individuals living in Amsterdam in 1994 is used. Dutch data offer a clear advantage in estimating the health impacts of cannabis use because the legal status of cannabis in the Netherlands ensures that estimates are free from confounding with the physical and psychological effects of engaging in a criminal activity. Accounting for selection into cannabis use and shared frailties in mental and physical health, the results suggest that cannabis use reduces the mental wellbeing of men and women and the physical wellbeing of men. Although statistically significant, the magnitude of the effect of using cannabis on mental and physical health is found to be small.
Keywords: Cannabis use; Duration models; Mental health; Physical health
JEL Codes: C41; D12; I19
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Cannabis use (I12) | Mental health (I19) |
| Cannabis use (I12) | Physical health (men) (I12) |
| Cannabis use (I12) | Psychological wellbeing (I31) |