A recent study examined the association between the cannabis dispensary counts and opioid related mortality rates in 812 counties in the US. The study found that higher storefront dispensary counts are associated with reduced opioid related death rates, particularly deaths associated with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. An increase from one to two storefront dispensaries in a county is associated with an estimated 17% reduction in all opioid related mortality rates.
Reference:
Hsu, G. & Kovács, B. Association between county level cannabis dispensary counts and opioid related mortality rates in the United States: panel data study. BMJ 372, m4957 (2021). https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.m4957
