Keeping off the Grass? An Econometric Model of Cannabis Consumption by Young People in Britain

This paper presents estimates of a dynamic individual-level model of cannabis consumption, using data from a 1998 survey of young people in Britain. The econometric model is a split-population generalisation of the non-stationary Poisson process, allowing for a separate dynamic process for initiation into cannabis use. The model allows for heterogeneity in consumption levels and behavioural shifts induced by leaving education and the parental home.