Citation

Hawken A. Addiction 2019; 114(5): 857-858.

Affiliation

Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University, New York, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/add.14591

PMID

31785064

Abstract

Lane & Hall 1 contribute to a growing literature on the public safety consequences of legalizing the sale of cannabis for recreational use. The policy importance of estimating the effects of legalization on public safety measures, such as traffic fatalities, is growing as more US states legalize and as policymakers grapple with regulating in an environment of scant evidence with mixed conclusions. Hansen, Miller & Weber 2 found no significant effect of cannabis legalization on traffic fatalities in Washington and Colorado, the first two states to legalize recreational sales, while Lane & Hall found a short‐term increase in traffic fatalities following legalization in their analysis of states that legalized recreational sales and their neighbors 1. Isolating the causal impact of legalization on traffic fatalities is challenging, as Hansen and colleagues note, due to changes in reporting and testing regimes muddling estimation and the tenuous link between detected cannabis use and impairment.

Legalizing the sale of recreational cannabis affects enforcement. We expect decreases in arrests in states that legalize recreational cannabis, as most people possessing cannabis would now be within state law. In Colorado, for example, cannabis‐related arrests decreased by 52% between 2012 and 2017 3. At the same time, legalizing recreational use adds to the enforcement and regulation burden of roadways, notably interstate trafficking and drugged driving ...


Keyword: Cannabis impaired driving

Language: en

Keywords

Cannabis; commercial; drugged driving; legalization; marijuana; recreational; trafficking