Crash charges have jumped in some states which have legalized leisure use and retail gross sales of marijuana, however drivers who used marijuana alone have been no extra prone to be concerned in crashes than drivers who hadn’t used the drug, research present.
Research by the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security and the affiliated Freeway Loss Knowledge Institute confirmed will increase in crash charges with the legalization of leisure marijuana and retail gross sales in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, the organizations mentioned in a launch.
A separate IIHS research of injured drivers who visited three emergency rooms in California, Colorado and Oregon confirmed no elevated crash danger related to marijuana, besides when mixed with alcohol. This conclusion is in step with a 2015 research by NHTSA.
The combined-use numbers might assist clarify why crash charges have elevated as legalization could also be encouraging extra folks to drink and use marijuana collectively, the organizations mentioned within the assertion.
“Our newest analysis makes it clear that legalizing marijuana for leisure use does improve total crash charges,” IIHS-HLDI President David Harkey mentioned. “That is clearly one thing policymakers and security professionals might want to tackle as extra states transfer to liberalize their legal guidelines — even when the best way marijuana impacts crash danger for particular person drivers stays unsure.”
The impacts of legalization and retail gross sales in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington resulted in a 6 p.c improve in harm crash charges and a 4 p.c improve in deadly crash charges in contrast with different Western states the place marijuana was unlawful on the time of the research.
The organizations additionally urged the rise in crashes could possibly be as a consequence of a burst of enthusiasm that got here when marijuana was legalized in some states.
Self-reports of past-month marijuana and alcohol use have elevated, whereas the reported use of alcohol alone has decreased, particularly in states the place leisure marijuana is now authorized, the teams mentioned.
Researchers carried out surveys for greater than a yr, interviewing and drug-testing extra than1,200 sufferers. Crash-involved drivers weren’t discovered extra prone to self-report or take a look at optimistic for marijuana alone than drivers who weren’t concerned in a crash and have been on the emergency room for causes apart from an harm.