Highway

How will legalizing marijuana affect our highways?

Marijuana use more than doubles a driver’s risk of being in an accident. The combination of marijuana and alcohol impairs a driver worse than either substance alone.
According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, drivers testing positive for marijuana doubled between 2006-2010, following an influx of pot shops and significant increases in registered “medical” marijuana users.
In a study of seriously injured drivers admitted to a Level-1 shock trauma center, more than a quarter of all drivers tested positive for marijuana.
Marijuana is the most commonly identified illicit drug in fatal accidents (~14 percent of drivers), sometimes in combination with alcohol or other drugs.
According to the Columbia University School of Public Health, the risk of an automobile crash is almost 2.7 times higher among marijuana users than nonusers.
The more marijuana smoked in terms of frequency and potency, the greater likelihood of a crash.
Five years after establishing a “medical” marijuana program, California saw a near 100% increase in fatal crashes where at-fault drivers tested positive for marijuana.
Drivers who tested positive for marijuana, or self-reported using marijuana, are more than twice as likely as other drivers to be involved in motor vehicle crashes.
Close to one out of four teens admit to driving under the influence of alcohol or 6 drugs and, of those, 75 percent do not believe smoking marijuana adversely affects their driving.

Romano, E, and Voas, R. B.; Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Drug and Alcohol Involvement in Four Types of Fatal Crashes, June 2011.

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