The Timing of Cannabis Legalization and Motor Vehicle Accidents, Fatal and Non-Fatal, In Washington, Colorado and Oregon Relative to the Nation

O'Connell, Daniel Edward

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Overview

Year:: 2018
Contributor:: O'Connell, Daniel Edward (creator); Westmoreland, Kristen (Advisor); Mello, Michael (Reader); Vivier, Patrick (Reader); Brown University. School of Public Health (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: Traffic accidents; Substance abuse; Washington (D.C.); Marijuana--Therapeutic use; Marijuana--Law and legislation; Marijuana abuse; Marijuana--Government policy; Marijuana--Physiological effect; Marijuana industry; Marijuana; Marijuana--Social aspects; Marijuana--Psychological aspects; Motor vehicles; Oregon; Washington (State); Colorado
Extent:: 7, 62 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26300/ehca-1r94

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Abstract:: Abstract of “The Timing of Cannabis Legalization and Motor Vehicle Accidents, Fatal and Non-Fatal, In Washington, Colorado and Oregon Relative to the Nation,” by Daniel E. O’Connell, MD, Master of Public Health, Brown University, May 2018 The purpose of this study was to determine if there is any existing relationship between the advent of recreational marijuana legislation and fatal and non-fatal traffic accidents. The study focused on the states of Washington, Colorado and Oregon as these are the states with the most experience thus far with recreational marijuana in practice. Problems persist in clarifying if the availability of state-sanctioned recreational marijuana is correlated with a change in the rate of traffic accidents. This study compared Washington and Colorado data pre- and post-2012 (when recreational marijuana was legalized in these states) and Oregon data pre- and post-2014 (when recreational marijuana was legalized in Oregon) to appropriately matched controls to ascertain if either fatal, non-fatal or both types of vehicle related accident rates changed. A random effects multivariate regression for panel data was performed using a difference in difference approach to control for normal trends in time and population. For the Washington and Colorado data set assessing fatal crashes, it was found that an adjusted diff-in-diff estimator exists equal to +0.0052 for fatal crashes which is statistically significant (p-value: 0.007), with a 90% confidence interval of 0.0020 to 0.0083. For non-fatal crashes, it was also found that an adjusted diff-in-diff estimator exists equal to +0.3600 which is statistically significant (p-value: 0.041), with a 90% confidence interval of 0.07 to 0.66. For non-fatal crashes with reference to the state of Oregon, it was found that an adjusted diff-in-diff estimator exists equal to +0.4100 (p-value: 0.012), with a 90% confidence interval of 0.14 to 0.68. The results found in the study demonstrate that recreational marijuana legislation can be associated with an increase in traffic accidents, in particular, non-fatal traffic accidents. However, the impact of these findings becomes marginalized when other analyses come into play, like the magnitude of these increases respective to the actual number of vehicle related accidents overall and other mitigating factors.
Notes:: Thesis (M. P. H.)--Brown University, 2018

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Citation

O'Connell, Daniel Edward, "The Timing of Cannabis Legalization and Motor Vehicle Accidents, Fatal and Non-Fatal, In Washington, Colorado and Oregon Relative to the Nation" (2018). Public Health Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.26300/ehca-1r94

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Public Health Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Public Health department.
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