Two U.S. studies differ over effects of marijuana on drivers | Reuters

A study by the American Journal of Public Health published on Thursday looked at motor vehicle fatalities and found no significant increase in Colorado and Washington State, where recreational marijuana use is legal, compared with eight states where it is not legal that have similar populations, vehicle ownership, and traffic laws. Alabama, Kentucky and Texas were among the states in the comparison group.

“Our study focused on deaths and actually found what we expected going into this,” Jason Adedoyte, lead author of the study said in a telephone interview. Adedoyte is a trauma surgeon at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

“Back in 2012 some argued that people would ride around in their cars crash and die. Our study proved that isn’t true,”

he said.

The American Journal of Public Health examined data from 2009 to 2015 taken from the U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

In another study published on Wednesday, the…