Indopedia All Things Marijuana
(HealthDay)—Although states where recreational marijuana is legal may have experienced a slight bump in traffic collisions, the good news is that there wasn’t an increase in crash-related fatalities compared to other states, two new studies show.
Insurance claims data show that Colorado, Washington and Oregon all experienced an increase in auto accident claims after retail marijuana sales became legal, according to research by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).
But Washington and Colorado had similar rates of traffic fatalities as eight other states that haven’t legalized recreational pot, an analysis of federal crash data published June 22 in the American Journal of Public Health found.
The conclusions of the two separate studies don’t necessarily conflict, said J.T. Griffin, chief government affairs officer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
“One of the characteristics of a driver who’s on marijuana is they tend to drive more slowly,” Griffin said. “If they’re…
