Legalizing medical cannabis is associated with lower rates of worker absenteeism, according to the findings of a new study. Researchers found that the reduction in missed workdays was most significant among workers who were more likely to experience pain symptoms, including those in agricultural and manufacturing jobs.
“This study identifies a statistically significant and quantitatively meaningful effect of medical cannabis laws in the United States on reducing health-related workplace absenteeism,” the authors of a report on the research wrote.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Georgia, who sought to assess the impact of state cannabis legalization laws on absenteeism in the workplace. The research, which relied on U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 20 million workers aged 18 to 61collected between 1990 and 2025, was published this month in the peer-reviewed Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health.
The researchers determined that legalizing medical cannabis is associated with a 6.9% decrease in the rate of employees calling out sick because of illness, injury, or other medical issues. The study also showed that reductions in employee absenteeism rates associated with legalized medical cannabis varied based on occupation and industry.
“The absenteeism-reducing effects of medical cannabis decriminalization are concentrated in occupations and industries in which chronic pain, physical strain, and job-related stress are plausibly important determinants of missed work,” the researchers wrote. “Medical cannabis laws appear to reduce sickness absence in settings where therapeutic use is likely to be most relevant.”
Some Jobs Showed Steeper Reductions in Missed Workdays Associated with Medical Cannabis Legalization
The study shows that manual workers missed shifts 39% less in states with legal medical cannabis compared to their counterparts in other states, while industrial machine operators had an absenteeism rate that was 33% less. Other occupations also showed reduced rates of absenteeism associated with legal medical cannabis, including health service workers (32%), farm workers (18%), food preparation workers, and construction workers (both at 10%). Medical cannabis was associated with 31% fewer sick or injured days in the durable goods manufacturing sector and 16% in nondurable goods manufacturing.
“The most substantial reductions” were “observed in occupations and industries that involve physical demands and repetitive strains of work,” the study authors wrote. “Our results are consistent with a therapeutic channel through which medical cannabis access improves symptom management and reduces sickness absence.”
While researchers found an association between worker absenteeism and medical cannabis policies, the study found “no significant effect of recreational cannabis legalization on health-related workplace absenteeism.”
“Although the estimated effect of recreational cannabis decriminalization was positive, it was not measured with sufficient precision to achieve statistical significance,” it said.
Study’s Findings Align with Previous Research
Cannabis news outlet Marijuana Moment noted that the study’s findings are consistent with previous research, including a 2021 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research that found that recreational cannabis legalization was associated with reductions in workplace injuries and increases in worker productivity. The researchers analyzed workers’ compensation claims among older adults, finding reductions in claims, “both in terms of the propensity to receive benefits and benefit amount,” in states with legalized adult-use cannabis.
The researchers also identified “complementary declines in non-traumatic workplace injury rates and the incidence of work-limiting disabilities” in legal states.
“We offer evidence that the primary driver of these reductions [in workers’ compensation] is an improvement in work capacity, likely due to access to an additional form of pain management therapy,” the authors of the 2021 study wrote.
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