The more weed you smoke, the better a driver you become? New study looks at driving skills of regular cannabis users

Study shows cannabis users perform better on driving tests

Some prohibitionists argue that legalizing cannabis will make society more dangerous because more people will drive stoned.

However, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 32 people die every day in the United States alone from drunk driving alone. It’s a well-known fact that drunk driving renders you mentally unable to make wise decisions while driving, and it’s already a well-known fact that you shouldn’t drive while intoxicated, or even after a few drinks.

On the other hand, we all know countless marijuana enthusiasts who drive safely while under the influence. Given the data we have so far, marijuana users are simply safer drivers compared to those who drink.

What the studies say

One recent study even shows that regular marijuana users perform better on distracted driving tests than occasional cannabis users!

Researchers from the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, along with researchers from the University of Iowa, analyzed both frequent and infrequent marijuana users and how they behaved during a simulated driving performance. The subjects could consume their own marijuana with a THC content of 15 to 30%. After smoking cannabis, they were asked to complete a series of tests that assessed how distracted they were driving. The findings were published in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.

“Those with an occasional use pattern experienced significantly more lane departures during the distraction periods after acute cannabis use compared to baseline, while those with daily use did not show a similar increase,” the researchers said. “Participants with a pattern of daily use reduced their speed, which can be interpreted as a drug effect or as a compensatory strategy,” they added.

The results of this study confirmed previous studies that suggested that cannabis use was associated with partial or complete tolerance in terms of psychomotor and cognitive performance. “This may indicate that those who have used cannabis on a daily basis may perceive a potentially adverse effect of acute cannabis use on driving performance and may attempt to compensate by slowing down to allow more time for changes in the road surface.” to respond,” the researchers said.

“Results demonstrate that a pattern of occasional use was associated with poorer lane departure performance after acute cannabis smoking. Those with an occasional use pattern also behaved differently in terms of accelerator position, and there was a trend for those with a daily use pattern to decrease speed,” the authors concluded.

Another study reported by Marijuana Moment discusses the findings of research published in Health Economics. Investigators evaluated insurance data from 2014 through 2019 and found that when states enacted marijuana legalization, auto insurance premiums fell by about $22 annually on average. While the drop in premiums may not seem like a lot, the reason for the drop is important.

Based on the findings, “Legalizing medical cannabis has reduced auto insurance premiums by $1.15 billion in all states currently legalized, with the potential to reduce premiums by an additional $900 million if the remaining states legalized ‘ said the authors. If all states legalized medical marijuana, it would result in a total of $2.4 billion in reduced payments for drivers across the country. This also leads the authors to believe that there will be a significant reduction in drunk driving as more people switch from alcohol to marijuana.

“Since car insurance premiums are directly linked to property damage and health outcomes, we find evidence of a positive social impact of medical cannabis on car safety,” the study states.

Additionally, they analyzed zip codes, leading to a correlation that the decline in annual premium fees “is more pronounced in areas directly exposed to a dispensary, suggesting that improved access to cannabis affects outcomes.”

The researchers also found that there was a strong association between a decrease in drunk driving before marijuana was legalized. “Additionally, prior to the legalization of medicinal cannabis, we find relatively large decreases in premiums in areas with relatively high drunk driving rates,” the study states. “This latter result is consistent with the substitutability between substances argued in the literature,” they said.

Marijuana laws are not related to the increase in car accidents

There’s also data showing that traffic fatality statistics don’t change when states pass marijuana laws.

In an analysis conducted by Florida Polytechnic University, researchers analyzed the association between statewide cannabis policies and traffic fatalities over 34 years from 1985 to 2019. They saw no significant changes in fatal auto accidents after recreational marijuana laws were enacted, while a decrease in fatal auto accidents was established after legislation on medicinal cannabis was enacted.

“We are finding fewer traffic deaths in the states after implementing MMLs [medical marijuana laws], consistent with previous work. This is true whether we use a simple MML indicator or a continuous indicator of the permissiveness of state medical marijuana laws,” the researchers wrote. “Taking into account previous MMLs, we find no evidence of a statistically significant association between RMLs [recreational marijuana laws] and traffic fatalities. Furthermore, we find no evidence of a link between traffic fatalities and cross-border legalization of leisure activities,” they added.

“The liberalization of marijuana policies could eventually lead to more deaths, at least in some circumstances, as more states legalize recreational use and more data accumulates. However, as of 2019, we find that liberalization was associated with fewer road deaths, not more,” they concluded.

Conclusion

While we don’t advocate stoned driving, if you’re unsure about your driving skills while under the influence of alcohol, many drivers have long been able to drive stoned with no problems. Even driving while taking CBD has been shown to be safe, certainly much safer than drunk driving.

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