Indopedia All Things Marijuana
In states with recreational cannabis laws, driving has been an issue since day one. But while local governments struggle with the lack of accurate, cannabis-specific, roadside sobriety tests and arbitrary legal THC limits, researchers from the Highway Loss Data Institute, a leader in insurance research, are already blaming cannabis for an increase in crash claims in legal weed states.
“We believe that the data is saying that crash risk has increased in these states and those crash risks are associated with the legalization of marijuana,” Matt Moore, senior vice president with the Highway Loss Data Institute, said.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the institute looked at insurance claims from car collisions between January 2012 and October 2016, and found that, in the years following legalization, claims increased 2.7% in Colorado, Oregon and Washington as compared to states still practicing cannabis prohibition.
But while the numbers appear to show a correlation between legal weed and collision claims, there hasn’t been nearly enough data for researchers, officials or experts to confidently claim total causation.
“It would appear, probably not to anyone’s…
