A controversial new study by two economists indicates that medical marijuana legalization laws have resulted in a nearly 9 percent drop in traffic deaths, and a 5 percent reduction in beer sales.
It’s a contrarian case of Freakonomics that’s sure to invite scrutiny. The secondary author — University of Colorado Denver professor of economics Daniel Rees — is the first to admit he didn’t expect the results, but he also stands by them.
“If critics want to collect the data themselves, boy, the results will jump out at them the way they jumped out at us,” he said. “Our results are pretty robust. We’re pretty confident they’re going to hold up.”
