D. Mark Anderson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics at Montana State University, Daniel I. Rees, PhD, Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado Denver, and Joseph J. Sabia, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics at San Diego State University, stated the following in their Jan. 2012 study "High on Life? Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicide," published by the The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its Discussion Paper Series:

"Our results suggest that the legalization of medical marijuana is associated with a 5 percent decrease in the total suicide rate, an 11 percent decrease in the suicide rate of 20- through 29-year-old males, and a 9 percent decrease in the suicide rate of 30- through 39 year-old-males. Estimates for female suicide rates are generally measured with less precision and are sensitive to functional form...

The strong association between alcohol consumption and suicide related outcomes found by previous researchers... raises the possibility that medical marijuana laws reduce the risk of suicide by decreasing alcohol consumption."