Cannabis use and support for cannabis legalization

Abstract

We investigate the determinants of the support for cannabis legalization finding a causal effect of personal experience with cannabis use. Current and past cannabis users are more in favor of legalization. We relate this finding to self-interest and inside information about potential dangers of cannabis. While the self-interest effect is not very surprising, the effect of inside information suggests that cannabis use is not as harmful as cannabis users originally thought it was before they started consuming. Our analysis suggests that as the share of cannabis users in the population increases, support for cannabis legalization will also increase.