In the ongoing debate over marijuana’s full legalization, a new study offers proponents this potential payoff: cheaper workers’ compensation claims for injured workers.
In states that legalized full adult recreational marijuana use between 2010 and 2018, fewer older workers filed workers’ compensation claims and when they did, the payouts tended to be smaller, according to new research distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Employers pay into workers’ compensation funds which provide income for injured employees who can’t get to work.
But when workers in pain have easier access to marijuana as a form of chronic pain management, that may reduce their need altogether for workers’ compensation — and keep them working, according to economists at Temple University, the University of Cincinnati, William Paterson University and the RAND Corporation.
“Once marijuana becomes legal for recreational use among adults, many people use it for medicinal purposes” including pain management, said Temple University Professor Catherine Maclean, one of the study’s authors. Surveys over the years back up Maclean, showing many people eyeing cannabis for health-related reasons rather than getting high.
Maclean and her colleagues combed through recurring Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys that questioned more than 500,000 people, including asking whether the person received workers’ compensation and, if so, how much?
In states…
Original Author Link click here to read complete story..
In the ongoing debate over marijuana’s full legalization, a new study offers proponents this potential payoff: cheaper workers’ compensation claims for injured workers.
In states that legalized full adult recreational marijuana use between 2010 and 2018, fewer older workers filed workers’ compensation claims and when they did, the payouts tended to be smaller, according to new research distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Employers pay into workers’ compensation funds which provide income for injured employees who can’t get to work.
But when workers in pain have easier access to marijuana as a form of chronic pain management, that may reduce their need altogether for workers’ compensation — and keep them working, according to economists at Temple University, the University of Cincinnati, William Paterson University and the RAND Corporation.
“Once marijuana becomes legal for recreational use among adults, many people use it for medicinal purposes” including pain management, said Temple University Professor Catherine Maclean, one of the study’s authors. Surveys over the years back up Maclean, showing many people eyeing cannabis for health-related reasons rather than getting high.
Maclean and her colleagues combed through recurring Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys that questioned more than 500,000 people, including asking whether the person received workers’ compensation and, if so, how much?
In states…
