Do Youths Substitute Alcohol and Marijuana? Some Econometric Evidence

This paper examines the substitutability of alcoholic beverages and marijuana among youths. Results indicate that drinking frequency and heavy drinking are negatively related to beer prices, but positively related to the full price of marijuana. The implications of this for driving while intoxicated are examined using self-reported involvement in non-fatal accidents and state-level youth motor vehicle accident fatality rates. The results imply that the net effect of an increase in the full price of alcohol on youth traffic crashes is negative, while the opposite is found for marijuana.Youth