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Data suggests that states without legal cannabis may be most in need of efforts to prevent driving under the influence of cannabis
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — A new study by researchers at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, has found that cannabis users living in states with legal recreational or medical cannabis are less likely to report driving under the influence of the drug. The findings point to a potential need for education about driving under the influence of cannabis in states without legal cannabis.
The study found different relationships between cannabis legalization and self-reported driving under the influence of cannabis based on how often participants reported using the drug. For those who reported using cannabis less than 20 days per month (less frequent users), people living in states with recreational and medical cannabis or medical cannabis alone were less likely to report driving under the influence than those living in states without either recreational or medical cannabis.
For frequent cannabis users, defined as people who use the drug 20 days or more per month, there was only a difference between users living in recreational states and states without legal cannabis. Frequent users living in recreational states were less likely to report driving under the influence compared to frequent users living in states without legal cannabis. The study did not find a lower risk of driving under the influence in medical states among frequent users.
“For some people, it might seem counterintuitive that people living in states with legal cannabis are actually less likely to report driving under the influence,” said Lauren Dutra, ScD, a social scientist at RTI and lead author of the study. “However, when you consider that states with legal cannabis are the only ones that are messaging about the risks of driving under the influence and putting warning labels on cannabis products because they can regulate these products, it makes sense. Unfortunately, states without legal cannabis are more limited in their options for education.”
Dutra and her colleagues recommend that all states, but particularly those without legal cannabis, should consider using mass media campaigns as a method of reaching all cannabis users, including more frequent users. Medical states may consider targeting frequent users by disseminating information through medical dispensaries, they say.
The research team used self-reported data from the 2016-2017 National Cannabis Climate Survey (NCCS), which was an internally funded RTI study that combined address-based and social media data collection. The survey relied on self-reported driving under the influence because of current limitations in testing for cannabis-impaired or cannabis-intoxicated driving.
“Driving under the influence of cannabis” was defined as driving within three hours of “getting high,” in other words, within three hours of feeling the effects of cannabis.
The study, which was internally funded, is available online from Preventive Medicine Reports and will be included in their June edition.
