Auto insurance premiums decreased in states following the legalization of medical marijuana, according to a new study that builds on existing research signaling that cannabis reform is associated with reduced risk of dangerous driving\u2014contrary to prohibitionist arguments.<\/p>\n
The study, published this month in the journal Health Economics, analyzed insurance data from 2014 to 2019. It found that premiums dropped by about $22 per year on average after states enacted legalization\u2014and the study authors think that may have something to do with reduced drunk driving in those states, signaling a possible substitution effect whereby people switch from alcohol to cannabis.<\/p>\n
A $22 premium reduction might not seem significant on its face, but the reason for that decline is what\u2019s important. Access to medical cannabis seems to be linked to better road safety, which translates into significant cost savings\u2014both collectively for people paying insurance premiums and overall for health-related expenditures related to auto accidents.<\/p>\n
The analysis determined that \u201cmedical cannabis legalization has reduced auto insurance premiums by $1.5 billion in all states that have currently legalized, with the potential to reduce premiums by an additional $900 million if the remaining states were to legalize\u201d\u2014a combined total of $2.4 billion in potential payment reductions for drivers under nationwide medical cannabis access.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause auto insurance premiums are directly tied to property damage and health outcomes, we find evidence of a positive<\/em> social impact of medical cannabis on auto safety,\u201d the study said.<\/p>\n Fewer health expenditure auto claims has also meant about $820 million annually in cost savings in legal medical marijuana states, the study says. And there\u2019s the potential of an additional $350 million in annual savings if cannabis is legalized across the country.<\/p>\n \u201cOur results indicate that the legalization and access to medical cannabis positively impacts auto safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n What makes this study unique is that it focuses on auto insurance trends, whereas most research into the relationship between marijuana reform and road safety have looked at data on traffic fatalities. That paints an incomplete picture, however, the researchers said, because a small fraction of car accidents involved fatalities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe existing literature misses over 99.5 percent of auto crashes,\u201d the new study<\/a> says. \u201cAuto insurers cover 67 percent of all medical and property damage from automobile accidents. Through this lens, we paint a more comprehensive picture.\u201d<\/p>\n The zip code-based analysis found that reductions in annual premium costs is \u201cstronger in areas directly exposed to a dispensary, suggesting increased access to cannabis drives the results.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, we find relatively large declines in premiums in areas with relatively high drunk driving rates prior to medical cannabis legalization,\u201d the study says. \u201cThis latter result is consistent with substitutability across substances that is argued in the literature.\u201d<\/p>\n Cameron Ellis, a co-author and researcher at Temple University, told Marijuana Moment that he believes \u201cthe main takeaway is that, even though driving while high is dangerous, medical cannabis legalization can actually make the road safer by reducing the prevalence of drunk driving enough to outweigh it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur results indicate the increase in auto safety is due, at least partially, to a decrease in DUI of alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But it\u2019s not just the substitution effect theory that\u2019s in play. While studies have consistently found that people use cannabis as a substitute for other drugs, including alcohol and prescription drugs, the other factor could be that even people who use both alcohol and marijuana are \u201cmore likely to stay home or go to house parties, instead of drinking at bars,\u201d Ellis said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe individual effects we find are very small ($22 per year on your auto insurance), but they definitely add up since so many people have auto insurance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Researchers from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Eastern Kentucky University also participated in the study.<\/p>\n Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment that the new findings are \u201cconsistent with those of prior analyses assessing the relationship between medical cannabis access and traffic safety showing no uptick in motor vehicle accidents, and in some instances, a downturn in accidents\u2014particularly those specific to those driving under the influence of alcohol or opioids.\u201d<\/p>\n A separate recent study found that states that have enacted legalization are seeing less driving under the influence of marijuana<\/a> than states that have maintained criminalization.<\/p>\n The study\u2019s key limitation is that it\u2019s based on self-reported DUIC data, but the results still run counter to both prohibitionist arguments against legalization and a recent congressionally enacted directive on where public awareness campaigns should be targeted amid the reform movement.<\/p>\n President Joe Biden signed a large-scale infrastructure bill late last year that included an amendment encouraging states that have enacted legalization laws\u2014and only those states\u2014to\u00a0educate people about impaired driving<\/a>. That measure was criticized by advocates who similarly want to discourage driving under the influence of cannabis but who also feel that any public education campaigns on the issue should be holistic, rather than singling out states that have legalized.<\/p>\n Experts and advocates have emphasized that evidence isn\u2019t clear on the relationship between THC concentrations in blood and impairment.<\/p>\n A study published in 2019, for example, concluded that those who drive at the legal THC limit\u2014which is typically between two to five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood\u2014were not statistically more likely to be involved in an accident<\/a>\u00a0compared to people who haven\u2019t used marijuana.<\/p>\n Separately, the\u00a0Congressional Research Service in 2019 determined<\/a>\u00a0that while \u201cmarijuana consumption can affect a person\u2019s response times and motor performance\u2026studies of the impact of marijuana consumption on a driver\u2019s risk of being involved in a crash have produced conflicting results, with some studies finding little or no increased risk of a crash from marijuana usage.\u201d<\/p>\n Another recent study found that smoking CBD-rich marijuana had\u00a0\u201cno significant impact\u201d on driving ability<\/a>, despite the fact that all study participants exceeded the per se limit for THC in their blood.<\/p>\n Marijuana Protections For Indian Tribes Included In Key Congressional Spending Bill, With Some Exceptions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Medical Marijuana Legalization Linked To Reduced Drunk Driving And Safer Roads, Study On Auto Insurance Data Suggests<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Auto insurance premiums decreased in states following the legalization of medical marijuana, according to a new study that builds on existing research signaling that cannabis reform is associated with reduced risk of dangerous driving\u2014contrary to prohibitionist arguments. The study, published this month in the journal Health Economics, analyzed insurance dataContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,15462],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55337,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55336\/revisions\/55337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Medical Marijuana Legalization Linked To Reduced Drunk Driving And Safer Roads, Study On Auto Insurance Data Suggests<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"