According to a new study, it seems that marijuana use is playing a role in the increase of car crashes.
The study has found that in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, where recreational marijuana sales have been approved, there has been an increase in accident insurance claims.
According the Highway Loss Data Institute, the number of vehicle collisions reported to insurance companies in those three states are 3 percent higher than what would have been expected if the states had not made recreational marijuana legal.
Matt Moore, the institute’s senior vice president stated, “We’re concerned about what we’re seeing. We see strong evidence of an increased crash risk in states that have approved recreational marijuana sales.”
The problem however is that the study did not conclude if those accidents were caused by drivers who were high.
What the study did do was compare collision claim rates before and after legalization with the collision claim rates of comparable states where pot is still illegal.
According to the institute, collision claims since marijuana was made legal are up 16 percent in Colorado, 6.2 percent in Washington and 4.5 percent in Oregon.
Moore explained, “Colorado has had legal pot sales the longest and it is showing the greatest effect. Meanwhile, Oregon has had pot sales for the shortest amount of time, so its increase is the lowest, but that could change over time.”
“We’re concerned about impaired driving in general,” said Moore. “Marijuana just layers on top of other impairments like alcohol.”
