Traffic injuries among youth did not change after legalization of cannabis: study

Before the legalization of cannabis, some who were opposed to the concept suggested that it could lead to more impaired driving, particularly among youth. That worry was unwarranted, according to a new study that found that legalization has not been associated with changes in traffic injuries in Canada.

The study, led by University of British Columbia professor Dr. Russ Callaghan, looked at traffic injuries in youth before and after legalization occurred in 2018, and found no significant jump.

Researchers focused on Alberta and Ontario, which are the only two provinces that capture all emergency department visit data. Youth were defined as those 14 to 17 years old in Alberta and 16-to-18-year-olds in Ontario.

“Implementation of cannabis legalization has raised a common concern that such legislation might increase traffic-related harms, especially among youth,” Callaghan said in a press release. “Our results, however, show no evidence that legalization was associated with significant changes in emergency department traffic-injury presentations.”

The study, published in November in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, states that following cannabis legalization, there was a decrease of 0.66 in the weekly average visits among youth drivers in Alberta to the emergency department. In Ontario, there was an increase in the weekly average of youth drivers presenting to the emergency department — but that increase was only by 0.09 visits.