141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

286141
Marijuana and drugged driving: Challenges in evaluating the impact of marijuana-related laws on crashes

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 11:15 AM - 11:30 AM

Gordon Smith, MD, MPH , Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Reducing drugged driving is a national priority, including encouraging states to enact drug per se laws making it illegal to operate a motor vehicle while having positive levels of impairing drugs. The evaluation of these laws however requires reliable longitudinal data on drugs and driving. This study evaluates different approaches and data available for evaluating the effect of laws related to marijuana use on drugged driving. We evaluated the current state of knowledge regarding driving while under the influence of marijuana and laws likely to affect marijuana related driving. The availability of data sources on marijuana related driving and their ability to evaluate trends in marijuana related driving was also assessed. Only 15 states have drug per se laws for all drivers (2 for drivers <21). Several recurrent surveys assess marijuana use but not in relation to driving, have not asked specifically about marijuana, or state-level data is not available. No longitudinal data on marijuana use among injured drivers (ED or hospitalized) is available. Preliminary analyses of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) found most states do not consistently test fatally injured drivers for drugs, especially THC; historical data on marijuana is inconsistent. Among 15 states with drug per se laws only five drug tested more than 75% of driver fatalities and only three had longitudinal data on THC as did four comparison states. The lack of reliable longitudinal data on drugs and driving is a major impediment to evaluating marijuana laws.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the current state of knowledge regarding the hazards associated with driving while under the influence of marijuana and the impact on associated crashes. Identify the challenges associated with collecting reliable data on drugged driving and methodological challenges to evaluating the impact on motor vehicle crashes of state laws regarding legalization of marijuana for both medical and general population use. Identify new approaches to collecting data on driving while under the influence of drugs that will be capable of evaluating public health laws related to the legalization of marijuana and their potential impact on road safety.

Keywords: Drug Use, Behavior Based Safety

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple federally funded grants focusing on the epidemiology of injuries and involvement of alcohol and drugs and injuries. I am a professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School have published books and numerous studies on injury and injury prevention.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.