Medical marijuana laws are associated with increases in substance use treatment admissions by pregnant women.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Between 2002 and 2014, past-month marijuana use among pregnant women in the United States increased 62%, nearly twice the growth of the general population. This growth coincides with the proliferation of state medical marijuana laws (MMLs) authorizing physicians to recommend marijuana for approved conditions. We estimated the association between MMLs and substance use treatment utilization among pregnant and non-pregnant women of reproductive age. We also examined whether the association varied across MML provisions, age groups and treatment referral sources to clarify potential pathways.

Design

Nation-wide administrative data from the 2002-14 Treatment Episodes Data Set Admissions, and a difference-in-differences design that exploited the staggered imple

SUBMITTER: Meinhofer A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6684381 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature