Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/216350 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 13038
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Governments worldwide are increasingly concerned about the booming CBD (cannabidiol) products. However, little is known about the impact of their liberalization. We study a unique case of unintended liberalization of a CBD-based product (light cannabis) that occurred in Italy in 2017. Using unique and high-frequency data on prescription drug sales and by exploiting the staggered local availability of the new product in each Italian province, we document a significant substitution effect between light cannabis and anxiolytics, sedatives, opioids, anti-depressants, and antipsychotics. Such medical non-adherence is consistent with a self-medication interpretation. Results are informative for regulators and suggest that policies contrasting this "green oil" boom risk to disregard the effective need of patients to seek effective reliefs of their symptoms.
Subjects: 
light cannabis
self-medication
marijuana
difference-in-difference
prescription drugs
CBD
JEL: 
H51
H75
I18
K32
K42
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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