Is Marijuana Decriminalization Causing More Car Accidents?

Marijuana intoxication and driving is one of the biggest problems weed faces after legalization. There is no precise way to quantify the moment when people are too high to drive, and no precise way to get that data.

A study conducted in Canada tried to find some answers by consulting actuaries to find out whether or not the marijuana reform leads to more accidents.

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The report was prepared by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) and the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). They concluded that decriminalizing marijuana was not responsible for more traffic accidents.

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The study conducted a review of available data on marijuana and driving. And while data showed that marijuana use had an impact on how people drove, that impact wasn’t always a bad thing, as shown by previous data from 2016 and 2022, which showed that high drivers are self-conscious were more aware and tended to drive more slowly. The more experienced the marijuana user, the less likely these individuals were to be involved in an accident, showing how different the problem is compared to drinking and driving.

Still, the evidence is conflicting. Data from 1993-2003 shows that 5% of drivers between the ages of 20 and 50 who tested positive for marijuana were more likely to speed and ignore traffic signs. Of course, these studies have their own caveats, as they all limit their scope to one statistic or focus on just one area.

The Canadian study had more modern data from the US and Canada compiled from 2016 to 2019 when people had a different, more positive relationship with cannabis.

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“The methods used in this research include enhanced statistical models, machine learning and other data science techniques. The models used high-resolution weather data to account for the impact of weather factors,” said the report’s author.

As usual, more research is needed to get a more accurate picture of marijuana and its effects on driving. Still, it is a complex subject and one that is not as simple as it is often portrayed.