In summary, this study finds no association between medical marijuana policy and suicide risk, contradicting an earlier report suggesting that legalization of medical marijuana might protect against suicide (Anderson et al., 2014). That earlier work did not control for individual-level demographics or for state tobacco control policies, both of which are associated with medical marijuana policy and with suicide risk (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Crosby et al., 2011; Grucza et al., 2014; Tables S4, S58). The primary limitation of this report is that we did not account for the various dimensions of medical marijuana policy (e.g., provisions for dispensaries, home growth, etc.). This was intentional so that our methods would match those of the earlier report as closely as possible, but future research should examine the roles of these various policy components (Pacula et al., 2013). Meanwhile, we conclude that medical marijuana legalization does not appear to lead to changes in suicide rates. Instead, it appears that medical marijuana legalization is correlated with changes in other factors that contribute to suicide risk, such as the demographic makeup
