We investigate the long-run effects of medical marijuana laws (MMLs) on the educational attainment and labor market outcomes of individuals who experienced childhood exposure to these laws, utilizing data from the American Community Survey between 2000 and 2019. We apply the Borusyak et al. (2021) imputation estimator to address potential biases commonly encountered in a conventional difference-in-differences model with two-way fixed effects caused by staggered timings and heterogeneous effects in treatment. The results demonstrate a significant and negative impact of medical marijuana laws on various aspects of individuals’ educational and occupational achievements. Specifically, we observe adverse effects on years of schooling, college attendance, employment, and income. Furthermore, our findings reveal the presence of heterogeneity in these effects based on gender and race. To further explore the mechanisms through which MMLs affect these individual outcomes, we explore several potential factors. Our results suggest that MMLs may affect long-term outcomes by increasing drug consumption and the propensity of experiencing alcohol use disorder among both children and adults.
