University of Iowa Study Suggests Driving Under Influence of Cannabis may be Less Dangerous than Drunk Driving

Wednesday, May 31st, 2023 -- 2:00 PM

(Bob Hague, WRN) While the status of medical marijuana legislation for Wisconsin remains unclear, a new study from the University of Iowa suggests driving under the influence of cannabis may not be as dangerous as driving drunk.

Researcher Cameron Ellis says insurance data showed states that legalized medical marijuana between 2014 and 2019 saw premiums fall an average of 22-dollars per driver in the first year.

"In areas that had high levels of DUIs prior to medical cannabis legalization, rates fell at a much higher rate. Because as bad as marijuana is for driving, alcohol is much worse, and so it's sort of this reduction in DUIs that's leading to the decline."

"There's this trope of someone's like, 'Oh, I'm a better driver while I'm drunk,' but, no you're not, but you're really, really confident and that causes a lot of problems.  Whereas marijuana famously, you're paranoid that there are cops everywhere, 'I don't want to get caught, I'm going to go exactly the speed limit'."

Opponents of legalized marijuana often argue it will lead to an increase in crashes and crash-related injuries and deaths. Ellis says the U-I study essentially debunks that. Minnesota recently legalized recreational cannabis, leaving Iowa and Wisconsin as the only states in our region that prohibit medical or recreational use.

The report published by the journal Health Economics found about 820-million dollars saved so far in crash-related health expenditures as a result of marijuana legalization. Ellis says if medicinal marijuana was legalized nationally, another 320-million could be saved.

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