Canada’s traffic injuries up nearly 500% after pot legalization

Rollin’ through stop signs?

New research has connected the rise of pot culture to a near 500% increase in traffic-related injuries in Canada over 12 years — especially since the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2018, the University of Ottawa and partners said.

Their study was published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

“Our findings highlight a concerning increase in cannabis-involvement in traffic-injury emergency visits over time, with even sharper spikes following the phases of legalization and commercialization,” lead author Dr. Daniel Myran said in a statement of the 475% rise.

“Conversely, alcohol-involvement in traffic injury [emergency department] visits did not increase over the study period, which suggests that legalization of cannabis has played an important role in rising rates.”

Researchers studied nearly a million ER visits between 2010 and 2021, breaking the span into three distinct periods: before legalization of recreational weed (January 2010 to September 2018); legalization with restrictions (October 2018 to February 2020); and commercialization with new products (March 2020 to December 2021).

They found a 94% increase in the rate of cannabis-involved traffic injury ER visits immediately after legalization in 2018.

The drug’s promotion truly set things ablaze, with a 223% rate increase logged in the latter period.

“The subsequent phase of commercialization, which overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, saw an even greater increase of 223% in rates compared to the pre-legalization period,” Myran explained.

Now, Myran has concerns that driving while high is on track to become a very worrisome issue in Canada.

“The observed increase in cannabis-involved traffic injuries might reflect broader trends in cannabis-impaired driving,” he stated.

“The study highlights the need for enhanced prevention efforts, including targeted education and policy measures.”

Of the 947,604 ER visits, 426 had cannabis involvement, while 7,564 had alcohol involvement, according to the study.

Men 19 to 21 living in lower-income neighborhoods with a prior cannabis-related ER visit had higher rates of injuries during the time period studied.

This new research comes after Canada put out public guidance in January that having more than two drinks a week is a health risk.