The Effects of Cocaine and Marijuana Use on Marriage and Marital Stability

This paper examines the relationship between illicit drug use and marital status. The paper starts with an overview of the relevant economic theory for this problem. Then, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experiences, the paper presents both cross sectional and longitudinal estimates of the effect of marijuana and cocaine use on marital status, time until first marriage, and duration of first marriage. The results indicate that in general, drug users are more likely to be unmarried due to a delay in the age at first marriage, and shorter marriage durations. The findings are not uniform, however, and differ according to the gender, race and age of the sample.