Cannabis laws and health-related workplace absenteeism in the United States

This study evaluated the impact of medical and recreational cannabis laws in the United States on health-related workplace absenteeism across different demographics, occupations, and industries. Using state-level variation in the timing of cannabis decriminalization and the onset of regulated sales, we applied a flexible difference-in-differences approach to monthly data from the Current Population Survey, covering the period from January 1990 to March 2025. The findings indicate that medical cannabis decriminalization reduced the likelihood of health-related work absences by about 6.9%, with decriminalization having a larger quantitative effect and greater statistical significance than the commencement of regulated sales. We found no significant effect of recreational cannabis legalization on health-related workplace absenteeism. The absenteeism-reducing effects of medical cannabis decriminalization were notable in occupations (e.g., manual laborers, machine operators) and industries (e.g., manufacturing, agriculture, construction) where conditions more predisposed to cannabis treatment (e.g., chronic pain associated with physical work) are prevalent.