Study: Road accidents did not increase after cannabis legalization in Colorado and Washington

In the same batch as the effects of cannabis decriminalization published this week, a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) shows that cannabis legalization in Colorado and Washington State has not led to an increase in traffic accidents.

Researchers at the University of Oregon compared the occurrence of road accidents in Colorado and Washington after cannabis legalization with other states that had not legalized and with similar trends in terms of road traffic and economic situation.

«We found that states that legalized cannabis did not experience significantly different rates in terms of cannabis- or alcohol-related road deaths compared to control groups.»

The study also concludes that «in summary, the similar trajectory of traffic crashes in Washington and Colorado compared to other states of similar size provides little evidence that total road fatality rates have increased significantly as a result of recreational cannabis legalization.»

These conclusions are similar to a previous study in 2017 published in the American Journal of Public Health, which reported that «3 years after the legalization of recreational cannabis, changes in traffic accident rates for Washington and Colorado were not statistically different from those of similar states without cannabis legalization.»