We find that the staggered passage of state-level laws that legalize marijuana for medical use increases states' borrowing costs by 7–9 basis points. Consistent with economic theory on substance use suggesting that marijuana legalization increases local consumption of the drug (by expanding its availability and reducing its perceived risks), we predict and find that increased consumption represents an important mechanism that explains the higher state bond spreads. We also show that following such laws’ passage, states incur higher marijuana-consumption-related expenditures, including for police, corrections, and public welfare.

中文翻译：

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大麻自由化和公共财政：医疗使用法通过的资本市场视角

我们发现，使医用大麻合法化的州级法律的交错通过使各州的借贷成本增加了 7-9 个基点。与物质使用的经济理论一致，表明大麻合法化会增加药物的当地消费（通过扩大其可用性并降低其感知风险），我们预测并发现消费增加代表了解释较高国家债券利差的重要机制。我们还表明，在此类法律通过后，各州会产生更高的大麻消费相关支出，包括用于警察、惩教和公共福利的支出。