IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.2016.303577_9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

US traffic fatalities, 1985-2014, and their relationship to medical marijuana laws

Author

Listed:
  • Santaella-Tenorio, J.
  • Mauro, C.M.
  • Wall, M.M.
  • Kim, J.H.
  • Cerdá, M.
  • Keyes, K.M.
  • Hasin, D.S.
  • Galea, S.
  • Martins, S.S.

Abstract

Objectives. To determine the association of medical marijuana laws (MMLs) with traffic fatality rates. Methods. Using data from the 1985-2014 Fatality Analysis Reporting System, we examined the association between MMLs and traffic fatalities in multilevel regression models while controlling for contemporaneous secular trends. We examined this association separately for each state enacting MMLs. We also evaluated the association between marijuana dispensaries and traffic fatalities. Results. On average, MML states had lower traffic fatality rates than non-MML states. Medical marijuana laws were associated with immediate reductions in traffic fatalities in those aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 44 years, and with additional yearly gradual reductions in those aged 25 to 44 years. However, state-specific results showed that only 7 states experienced post-MML reductions. Dispensaries were also associated with traffic fatality reductions in those aged 25 to 44 years. Conclusions. Both MMLs and dispensaries were associated with reductions in traffic fatalities, especially among those aged 25 to 44 years. State-specific analysis showed heterogeneity of the MML-traffic fatalities association, suggesting moderation by other local factors. These findings could influence policy decisions on the enactment or repealing of MMLs and how they are implemented.

Suggested Citation

  • Santaella-Tenorio, J. & Mauro, C.M. & Wall, M.M. & Kim, J.H. & Cerdá, M. & Keyes, K.M. & Hasin, D.S. & Galea, S. & Martins, S.S., 2017. "US traffic fatalities, 1985-2014, and their relationship to medical marijuana laws," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(2), pages 336-342.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303577_9
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303577
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303577
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303577?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michele Baggio & Alberto Chong & Sungoh Kwon, 2020. "Marijuana and alcohol: Evidence using border analysis and retail sales data," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 563-591, May.
    2. Junxing Chay & Seonghoon Kim, 2022. "Heterogeneous health effects of medical marijuana legalization: Evidence from young adults in the United States," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 269-283, February.
    3. Anderson, D. Mark & Rees, Daniel I., 2021. "The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana," IZA Discussion Papers 14292, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Benjamin Hansen & Keaton Miller & Caroline Weber, 2020. "Early Evidence On Recreational Marijuana Legalization And Traffic Fatalities," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(2), pages 547-568, April.
    5. Francisco González-Sala & Macarena Tortosa-Pérez & María Peñaranda-Ortega & Francisco Tortosa, 2023. "Effects of Cannabis Legalization on Road Safety: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Gunadi, Christian, 2021. "Does Expanding Access to Cannabis Affect Traffic Crashes? County-Level Evidence from Recreational Marijuana Dispensary Sales in Colorado," GLO Discussion Paper Series 964, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Cameron M. Ellis & Martin F. Grace & Rhet A. Smith & Juan Zhang, 2022. "Medical cannabis and automobile accidents: Evidence from auto insurance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(9), pages 1878-1897, September.
    8. Christian Gunadi, 2022. "Does expanding access to cannabis affect traffic crashes? County‐level evidence from recreational marijuana dispensary sales in Colorado," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(10), pages 2244-2268, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303577_9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.