Event Details

This Seminar is hosted by the Economics Department

Vincenzo Carrieri will present a seminar on "Do-It-Yourself medicine? The impact of lightcannabis liberalization on prescription drugs" (with F. Principe and L.Madio)

Abstract: Governments worldwide are increasingly concerned about the booming CBD (cannabidiol) products. However, little is known about the impact of their liberalization. We exploit a loophole in the Italian ​ legislation that in 2016 unintendedly liberalized light cannabis. In the limited time in which the ​market was left unregulated, light cannabis availability led to a significant reduction in the sales of ​ anxiolytics, opioids, anti-depressants, and antipsychotics. Such medical non-adherence is consistent ​with a rational self-medication hypothesis. Results are informative for regulators and suggest that ​policies contrasting this “green oil” boom might be welfare-reducing for patients' seeking effective ​reliefs of their symptoms.