Cannabis Use and its Effects on Health, Education and Labor Market Success

Cannabis is the most popular illegal drug. Its legal status is typically justified on
the grounds that cannabis use has harmful consequences. Empirically investigating
this issue has been a fertile topic for research in recent times. We provide an
overview of this literature, focusing on studies which seek to establish the causal
eect of cannabis use on health, education and labor market success. We conclude
that there do not appear to be serious harmful health eects of moderate cannabis
use. Nevertheless, there is evidence of reduced mental well-being for heavy users
who are susceptible to mental health problems. While there is robust evidence
that early cannabis use reduces educational attainment, there remains substantial
uncertainty as to whether using cannabis has adverse labor market eects.