Car Crashes in Pot-Legal States Have Soared
- National definition for marijuana-impaired driving lacking
- Law enforcement lacks tools to catch people driving high
A Chelsea police "drug recognition expert," runs the license of a driver who failed to let a pedestrian cross the street in a cross walk in Chelsea, U.S.
Photographer: Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Car crashes in the first three states to legalize recreational marijuana have soared as law enforcement and regulators struggle to define driving high, let alone determine how to fight it.
Colorado, Oregon, and Washington saw a combined 5.2% increase in the rate of police-reported crashes after legalizing recreational marijuana, compared with neighboring states where such sales are illegal, according to data compiled and analyzed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Researchers tallied crash rates between 2012 and 2016.