Drug and alcohol related auto fatalities have doubled in Colorado. A good portion of the profits/taxes are supposed to go towards increased prevention programs.
It's been 72 hours and the above poster has failed to respond with the requested data that would support his implication that cannabis is responsible for an increase in "auto fatalities" or any other vehicular events.
Personally, I don't see in the current totality of the data any way that any relatively objective analysis could lead one to rationally conclude that cannabis is responsible for any increases. I also don't rule out that it is possible that future research
could discover some causal relationship, but it certainly isn't there now. The "studies" that claim such a linkage, especially the ones claiming cannabis is responsible for the increases, are "flawed", either in their design or their cherry picking of data that allows them to publish the conclusion they were seeking prior to doing the study itself.
Given the original poster's lack of response, I cherry picked a few quotes (I've included the links to all of the full articles) to counter his claim:
Traffic fatalities linked to marijuana are up sharply in Colorado. Is legalization to blame?Authorities say the numbers cannot be definitively linked to legalized pothttps://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/25/colorado-marijuana-traffic-fatalities/Colorado transportation and public safety officials, however, say the rising number of pot-related traffic fatalities cannot be definitively linked to legalized marijuana.
Law enforcement officials, prosecutors and public policy makers concede there’s still too little information about marijuana and how it’s detected to understand just how much the drug is affecting traffic fatalities.
The Colorado State Patrol said officers believed marijuana was a factor in more than 17 percent of all DUI arrests they made in 2016. The year before, it was about 13 percent. In the first six months of 2017, it was at 14.5 percent, although the number of fatal crashes in which alcohol and drugs were a factor has increased by 28 percent.
Also, FARS records only the presence of the drug — not its potency; how recently it had been used; whether it was a factor in the crash; and whether the driver who tested positive was at fault or even ticketed.
“That doesn’t mean we should dismiss any concern about cannabis-impaired driving,” NCIA’s Taylor said, “but it does mean we should be very careful about what gets read into data that doesn’t actually give us any specific insight into the issue.”
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Traffic Fatalities in Colorado[When looking at these comparisons between 2005 and 2016 keep in mind that cannabis wasn't legal recreationally until 2013, and that the population of Colorado has increased dramatically since 2005 (the past several years at a rate of 1.8% per year), thus in all likelihood also dramatically increasing both the number of drivers and the total number of miles driven in 2016.]
https://www.codot.gov/news/documents/safety-press-conference-boards-jan-31-2017Total Crashes: Greater number in 2005 than 2016
Fatal Crashes: Virtually Identical number in 2005 and 2016
Serious Injuries: Greater number in 2005 than 2016
Serious Injury Rate: 15% LOWER in 2016 compared to 2005
Fatal Injury Rate: Virtually identical in 2005 and 2016
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Marijuana legalization has not increased traffic fatalitieshttps://coloradopolitics.com/marijuana-legalization-has-not-increased-traffic-fatalities/In fact, marijuana legalization has not increased overall traffic fatality rates nor the total number of non-fatal crashes, according to two separate studies conducted by Columbia University and the University of Texas-Austin.
Additionally, Colorado State Patrol reports a decrease in the number of driving impaired accidents since marijuana sales became legal.
A study released last week in the American Journal of Public Health evaluated crash fatality rates in Colorado and Washington before and after the states legalized marijuana. The researchers then compared those rates to eight control states with similar traffic, roadway and population characteristics that did not alter their marijuana laws. The changes in motor-vehicle-crash fatality rates observed in Washington and Colorado were not “significantly different” from those observed in the control states.
Another study in the same journal last year found that states with medical cannabis laws had lower traffic fatality rates compared to states where marijuana is not legal. And there was an immediate decline in car deaths following the establishment of a legal marijuana market – particularly among those under 44 years of age.
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After states legalized medical marijuana, traffic deaths fellhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-marijuana-traffic-death/after-states-legalized-medical-marijuana-traffic-deaths-fell-idUSKBN14H1LQLegalization of medical marijuana is not linked with increased traffic fatalities, a new study finds. In some states, in fact, the number of people killed in traffic accidents dropped after medical marijuana laws were enacted.
“Instead of seeing an increase in fatalities, we saw a reduction, which was totally unexpected,” said Julian Santaella-Tenorio, the study’s lead author and a doctoral student at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.
Deaths dropped 11 percent on average in states that legalized medical marijuana, researchers discovered after analyzing 1.2 million traffic fatalities nationwide from 1985 through 2014.
It’s not clear why traffic deaths might drop when medical marijuana becomes legal, and the study can only show an association; it can’t prove cause and effect.
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American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) February 2017
US Traffic Fatalities, 1985–2014, and Their Relationship to Medical Marijuana LawsJulian Santaella-Tenorio DVM, MSc, Christine M. Mauro PhD, Melanie M. Wall PhD, June H. Kim MPhil, MHS, Magdalena Cerdá DrPH, Katherine M. Keyes PhD, Deborah S. Hasin PhD, Sandro Galea MD, DrPH, and Silvia S. Martins MD, PhD
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303577Objectives. To determine the association of medical marijuana laws (MMLs) with traffic fatality rates.
Methods. Using data from the 1985–2014 Fatality Analysis Reporting System, we examined the association between MMLs and traffic fatalities in multilevel regression models while controlling for contemporaneous secular trends. We examined this association separately for each state enacting MMLs. We also evaluated the association between marijuana dispensaries and traffic fatalities.
Results. On average, MML states had lower traffic fatality rates than non-MML states. Medical marijuana laws were associated with immediate reductions in traffic fatalities in those aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 44 years, and with additional yearly gradual reductions in those aged 25 to 44 years. However, state-specific results showed that only 7 states experienced post-MML reductions. Dispensaries were also associated with traffic fatality reductions in those aged 25 to 44 years.
Conclusions. Both MMLs and dispensaries were associated with reductions in traffic fatalities, especially among those aged 25 to 44 years. State-specific analysis showed heterogeneity of the MML–traffic fatalities association, suggesting moderation by other local factors. These findings could influence policy decisions on the enactment or repealing of MMLs and how they are implemented.
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Unpacking Pot’s Impact in Coloradohttp://www.factcheck.org/2016/08/unpacking-pots-impact-in-colorado/Like the Rocky Mountain HIDTA’s 2015 report, the AAA report cautions that testing positive for THC doesn’t mean the driver was impaired or at fault for the crash. The AAA report added that many marijuana-positive drivers also had alcohol and other drugs in their system, “which in some cases likely contributed more significantly to the crash than did the THC.”
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Study of fatal car accidents suggests medical marijuana may be helping curb opioid usehttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160915163805.htmA study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that there were fewer drivers killed in car crashes who tested positive for opioids in states with medical marijuana laws than before the laws went into effect. The study is one of the first to assess the link between state medical marijuana laws and opioid use at the individual level. Findings will be published online in the American Journal of Public Health.
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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/03/990325110700.htmUniversity Of Toronto Study Shows Marijuana Not A Factor In Driving AccidentsThe safety hazards of smoking marijuana and driving are overrated, says University of Toronto researcher Alison Smiley, whose study of impairment and traffic accident reports from several countries shows that marijuana taken alone in moderate amounts does not significantly increase a driver's risk of causing an accident.
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