Thirty-six states have legalized medical marijuana and 18 states have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. In this paper, we review the literature on the public health ...consequences of legalizing marijuana, focusing on studies that have appeared in economics journals as well as leading public policy, public health, and medical journals. Among the outcomes considered are: youth marijuana use, alcohol consumption, the abuse of prescription opioids, traffic fatalities, and crime. For some of these outcomes, there is a near consensus in the literature regarding the effects of medical marijuana laws (MMLs). As an example, leveraging geographic and temporal variation in MMLs, researchers have produced little credible evidence to suggest that legalization promotes marijuana use among teenagers. Likewise, there is convincing evidence that young adults consume less alcohol when medical marijuana is legalized. For other public health outcomes such as mortality involving prescription opioids, the effect of legalizing medical marijuana has proven more difficult to gauge and, as a consequence, we are less comfortable drawing firm conclusions. Finally, it is not yet clear how legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes will affect these and other important public health outcomes. We will be able to draw stronger conclusions when more posttreatment data are collected in states that have recently legalized recreational marijuana. (JEL I12, I18, K32, K42, R41)
γ‐Hydroxybuttersäure Theofel, Nadine; Tsokos, Michael; Scholtis, Stefan
Chemie in unserer Zeit,
June 2024, Letnik:
58, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Zusammenfassung
Die Analyse und Interpretation von GHB‐Konzentrationen ist alles andere als trivial. Dies ist insbesondere im forensisch‐toxikologischen Umfeld der Fall. So muss zum einen die ...endogene Konzentration berücksichtigt werden und zum anderen der Umstand, dass GHB nach Eintritt des Todes noch gebildet werden kann. Hinzu kommt, dass Untersuchungen hinsichtlich GHB zusätzlich angefordert werden müssen, da GHB im Rahmen der Systematischen Toxikologischen Analyse nicht untersucht wird. Weiterhin ist das Nachweisfenster von GHB in Blut oder Urin sehr kurz. Die Analyse erfolgt in der Regel mit chromatographischen Systemen, die an ein Massenspektrometer gekoppelt sind. Dieser Aufsatz fasst die GHB‐positiven Fälle der letzten fünf Jahre zusammen und stellt zwei Fälle detaillierter vor.
Summary
Gamma‐Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is a small molecule, which can be analyzed by mass spectrometry coupled to gas chromatography or liquid chromatography. Forensic toxicologists have to take three obstacles with respect to the intake of GHB. Firstly, this molecule is part of the human metabolome, secondly, it can be built or degraded after death, and thirdly, the elimination half‐life is rather short. Consequently, forensic toxicologists have set a threshold for the measured GHB concentration to judge for an acute GHB intake. As GHB is a narcotic agent, users often take gamma‐Butyrolactone (GBL) or 1,4‐Butandiol (BD). These precursors are easily obtainable and metabolized very fast to GHB. Two case reports present typical forensic toxicological outcomes. In particular, the second case report shows that hair analysis may be a useful tool to make a statement regarding the frequent abuse.
Gamma‐Hydroxybuttersäure (GHB) kommt in sehr geringer Konzentration im menschlichen Körper vor. Sie kann jedoch auch von außen zugeführt werden und ruft bei einer niedrigen Dosis ähnliche Symptome und Rauschzustände hervor wie Ethanol. GHB wird daher in zunehmendem Maße als Droge missbraucht. Die Gefahr hierbei: Hohe Konzentrationen können zum Tod führen und bereits geringe Mengen können starke Körperreaktionen auslösen. Von Laien kann GHB daher kaum so dosiert werden, dass von der Aufnahme keine Gefahr für das Wohlbefinden oder gar das (eigene) Leben ausgeht.
This paper evaluates the causal effect of drug decriminalization on unintentional drug overdose deaths in a context with relatively poor access to drug treatment services. Using the synthetic control ...method, I find that when Oregon decriminalized small amounts of drugs in February 2021, it caused 182 additional unintentional drug overdose deaths to occur in Oregon in 2021. This represents a 23% increase over the number of unintentional drug overdose deaths predicted if Oregon had not decriminalized drugs.
The opioid crisis in the United States has resulted in a dramatic increase in overdose deaths over the last two decades. This crisis has created an economic ripple affecting an important engine of ...growth: patenting. Using patent data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), we show a negative effect of opioid prescriptions on the amount of patenting that occurs in a county. Despite inventive activities being hampered by the negative economic effects that opioid misuse creates in an area, we also find evidence that the opioid crisis incentivizes inventors to relocate. Similarly, we find a reduction in the number of high-tech firms and STEM graduates. We also show that the opioid crisis dramatically reduces the number of white and non-white inventors.
When Innovation Goes Wrong Cutler, David M.; Glaeser, Edward L.
The Journal of economic perspectives,
10/2021, Letnik:
35, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The fourfold increase in opioid deaths between 2000 and 2017 rivals even the COVID-19 pandemic as a health crisis for America. Why did it happen? Measures of demand for pain relief—physical pain and ...despair—are high and in many cases rising, but their increase was nowhere near as large as the increase in deaths. The primary shift is in supply, primarily of new forms of allegedly safer narcotics. These new pain relievers flowed in greater volume to areas with more physical pain and mental health impairment, but since their apparent safety was an illusion, opioid deaths followed. By the end of the 2000s, restrictions on legal opioids led to further supply-side innovations, which created the burgeoning illegal market that accounts for the bulk of opioid deaths today. Because opioid use is easier to start than end, America's opioid epidemic is likely to persist for some time.
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