Neither the legalization of adult cannabis nor the small increase in retail sales is associated with an increase in motor vehicle accidents, NORML reports. The data comes from study Posted earlier this month in Drug and Alcohol Review.
Canadian scientists looked at the number of traffic accidents in Toronto both in the years before and after the city legalized adult use of cannabis.
According to their report:[N]Either CCA [Canadian Cannabis Act] Nor is NCS [number of cannabis stores per capita] It is associated with the associated changes in the results of (traffic safety). … during CRUL’s first year [cannabis recreational use laws] Implementation in Toronto, there are no significant changes in accidents, number of road casualties and KSI [all road users killed or severely injured] noticed.”
In the United States, the increased risk of car accidents due to driving by a stone is often cited as a reason for not legalizing adult cannabis use. Over the years, different studies have reported conflicting information and led to different results depending on who you ask and their attitude to cannabis. For example, a 2021 US study suggested that rates of car accidents rose in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington states, where recreational cannabis use and retail sales are legal, where Newsweek mentioned. However, if you read the entire article, you will notice that at the end, remember the study in question, which used information from injured drivers in emergency rooms in Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; And Sacramento, California, only saw an increase in auto accidents when cannabis was paired with alcohol.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionIn 2020, 11,654 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving drivers with alcohol disabilities, accounting for 30% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. 2020, including an estimate of lost lives and medical bills. Not only is alcohol legal, but it is not beholden to the same insane tax laws as cannabis, which, by stifling the legal market, seem to allow the black market to flourish. cannabis industry Paid more than 1.8 billion dollars in additional taxes in 2022 alone.
Toronto results Drug and Alcohol Review The study is consistent with other Canadian research. For example, a Study 2021 in the journal Drug and alcohol dependence “is found There is no evidence that implementation Cannabis law [which legalized adult-use in Canada] It was associated with significant changes in the post-legalization patterns of all traffic-injured drivers [emergency department] visits or, more specifically, ED presentations for young drivers and traffic injuries.” As NORML points out, another study published earlier this year similarly I finishOverall, there is no clear evidence that RCL [recreational cannabis laws] had no impact on rates of emergency department visits and hospitalization for either a motor vehicle or pedestrian/cyclist injury across Canada.”
However, in the United States, ideas about the relationship between legalization of cannabis and traffic accidents tend to bend to meet the reactionary and scientifically unsound views of Republicans. like Benzinga ReportsRegarding a 2023 bill aimed at curbing Connecticut’s legal market, Senator Paul Cicarella (R), the ranking member of the Committee on Public Safety and Security, told NBC Connecticut’s Mike Hydeck: “There’s really no test that can tell when someone is Under the influence of marijuana,” he said, adding that “the false positive rate and false negative rate are so high that again, this could be an acceptable challenge in court as well.”
The race is already on to create a THC breath analyzer. However, anti-cannabis lawmakers fail to recognize that people actually use cannabis, whether it is legal or not. While cannabis is generally considered a safe substance, like any mind-altering drug, of course, one should consider safety measures such as driving and always use it responsibly. However, if the United States really wants to focus on safety, then its priority should be getting tax laws and legislation right at the federal level because unless that happens, there will be no legal market to study.
