Despite prohibitionist arguments that marijuana legalization harms the workforce, a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that, if anything, the reform actually increases job opportunities.<\/p>\n
Researchers at San Diego State University and Bentley University said that their study is the \u201cfirst to explore the impact of recreational marijuana legalization (RML) on labor market outcomes of working-age individuals,\u201d analyzing employment and wage trends in states that have and haven\u2019t enacted adult-use legalization.<\/p>\n
If what prohibitionists have insisted\u2014that legalization would create health and safety issues, stunting labor outcomes and job opportunities\u2014were true, the study would have shown \u201csubstantial negative impacts\u201d on the economy and workforce. But the analysis didn\u2019t turn up evidence to support those claims.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, our findings show some evidence that RML adoption is associated with small increases in adult employment in the agricultural sector, consistent with opening of a new licit market to produce and cultivate marijuana,\u201d the working paper says. \u201cAmong early-adopting states, California, Colorado, and (to a lesser extent) Oregon saw boosts in agriculture work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study also found \u201csome evidence that RML adoption is associated with modest (often short-run) employment gains for Hispanics and individuals over age 30,.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers said that the \u201clargely null, and occasionally positive employment (and earnings) effects are robust\u201d in that they 1) used event-study analyses that tested both pre-legalization trends and assessments of \u201cpost-treatment dynamics in labor market effects,\u201d 2) controlled for trends in states bordering those with adult-use legalization, 3) used \u201cnewly developed difference-in-difference methods\u201d that minimize study bias and 4) included \u201csynthetic control analyses of early adopting states that allow an exploration of longer-run economic effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, we conclude that legalization of recreational marijuana has, at most, muted effects on the economic well-being of working-age individuals,\u201d they said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOur estimates show that RML adoption is associated with an increase in agricultural employment, consistent with the opening of a new licit market.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The researchers also examined why adult-use legalization might have greater economic benefits than medical marijuana laws (MMLs). By virtue of expanding access to the broader population, that \u201cmay increase labor demand and offer new economic opportunities,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n But recreational legalization is also more commonly enacted with criminal justice reform elements such as expungements. And so, \u201cby more broadly reducing the likelihood of having a criminal record, RMLs may be more likely to have important effects on employment and earnings opportunities of those young men with a relatively higher propensity for a marijuana possession arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThus, one might expect that RMLs could have larger effects on those disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition: young Black and Hispanic men,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n \u201cFinally, because RMLs broadly expand the market for marijuana across a far larger potential set of consumers than MMLs, expansions in production and cultivation of marijuana may be much more substantial. Thus, there is greater scope for agriculture and retail sales employment to rise (perhaps along with workers\u2019 wages) in response to this new licit market.\u201d<\/p>\n The introduction of the working paper contrasted the differing perspectives on the issue by quoting billionaire Elon Musk and actor and reform advocate Seth Rogen. The former said in 2018 that he doesn\u2019t regularly smoke cannabis because he believes it\u2019s not \u201cvery good for productivity.\u201d The latter, on the other hand, said in 2011 that he smokes \u201ca lot of weed when I write.\u201d<\/p>\n The study didn\u2019t attempt to ascertain whether consuming cannabis proactively improves work performance, however. Rather, it looked at broader economic trends following the policy implementation of legalization, which it did associate with slightly increased average use by adults.<\/p>\n Legalization \u201ccould have positive effects on employment and wages,\u201d the authors said. \u201cThe introduction of a new legal industry\u2014which may include cultivation and production of marijuana as well as legal marijuana sales at recreational dispensaries\u2014may increase employment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoreover, if legal access to marijuana induces substitution away from substances that have negative impacts on productivity, including opioids or heavier drinking, labor market outcomes may improve (or at least be no worse off),\u201d it continued. \u201cIn addition, if marijuana is effective at alleviating physical health ailments, relieving stress, or improving psychological health, such health improvements could generate positive labor market spillovers.\u201d<\/p>\n The findings are generally consistent with past analyses, including one from 2021 that found legalization is associated with an increase in workforce productivity<\/a> and decrease in workplace injuries.<\/p>\n Strict policies prohibiting off-duty cannabis use by employers has also been linked to lower job pools for employers, and numerous businesses have started amending their drug testing policies amid the state legalization movement.<\/p>\n Even at the federal level, where marijuana is seriously prohibited, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently proposed to replace a series of job application forms<\/a> for prospective workers in a way that would treat past cannabis use much more leniently than under current policy.<\/p>\n GOP Congresswoman Files Bill To Provide Federal Tax Relief For Marijuana Businesses By Amending IRS\u2019s 280E Code<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Marijuana Legalization Boosts Job Opportunities In The Agricultural Sector, Study Finds<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Despite prohibitionist arguments that marijuana legalization harms the workforce, a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that, if anything, the reform actually increases job opportunities. Researchers at San Diego State University and Bentley University said that their study is the \u201cfirst to explore theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15462],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60134,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60133\/revisions\/60134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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