Findings on Marijuana/Cannabis Detailed by Investigators at University of Texas El Paso (The Effects of Medical and Recreational Cannabis Laws On Prescription Drug Claims In Commercial Group Insurance Markets): Marijuana/Cannabis

2025 JUN 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Marijuana Daily -- Data detailed on Marijuana/Cannabis have been presented. According to news reporting originating in El Paso, Texas, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Initially introduced as an alternative medical treatment, cannabis has been conditionally legalized in most U.S. states.”

Funders for this research include NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), NAIC, Katie School of Insurance and Risk Management at Illinois State University, Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Texas El Paso, “Using prescription drug claims as reported by small and large group insurers in the NAIC Supplemental Health Care Exhibit from 2010-2019, we examine the impact of medical and recreational cannabis laws on prescription drug expenditures of working-age individuals. We use a difference-in-differences framework and find significant reductions in prescription drug claims per enrollee of $34-42 annually in the small group insurance market following recreational cannabis legalization.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “While we do not observe similar reductions in claims in large group insurance markets, we find weak evidence that the reduced expenditures in small group insurance correspond with reductions in premiums indicating positive spillover effects from recreational cannabis for insured enrollees of small group insurance plans.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: The Effects of Medical and Recreational Cannabis Laws On Prescription Drug Claims In Commercial Group Insurance Markets. Health Economics, 2025. Health Economics can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Health Economics - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1050)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Rhet A. Smith, University of Texas El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, United States. Additional authors for this research include Amanda C. Cook and E. Tice Sirmans.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4967. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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