University’s Cannabis Research Institute to Host Webinar on July 8 Focused on Why Legalized Marijuana May Lead to Fewer Workers’ Compensation Claims Among Older Workers


The Cannabis Research Institute at William Paterson University will host a webinar about the implications of marijuana legalization and why it may reduce workers’ compensation claims among adults 40 to 62 years in a webinar on Thursday, July 8, 2021, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. via Zoom. The event is free, and the public is invited to participate. A question and answer session will follow.

To participate in the forum, register at https://wpunj.edu/WPwebinar.

Catherine Maclean, health economics professor at Temple University, will be the guest speaker. She will discuss her new research which found that as states legalize recreational marijuana, there is a resulting decline in the rate of workers’ compensation claims and benefit amounts among older employees.

According to the study, when workers in pain have easier access to marijuana as a form of chronic pain management, it may reduce their need for workers’ compensation and help them work longer.

The research, Does Marijuana Legalization Affect Work Capacity? Evidence from Workers’ Compensation Benefit,” was published in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) with three other authors, including Rahi Abouk, health economics professor and director of the Cannabis Research Institute at William Paterson University.

Maclean is a research associate in the Health Economics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research and is a research affiliate at the Institute of Labor Economics. She is co-editor at the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and an associate editor at the Journal of Health Economics.

For more information, email the Cannabis Research Institute at CRI@wpunj.edu.

06/16/21