Academic Journal
Police-Reported Impaired Driving After Recreational Cannabis Legalization in Canada.
| Τίτλος: | Police-Reported Impaired Driving After Recreational Cannabis Legalization in Canada. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Armstrong MJ; Department of Finance, Operations & Information Systems (FOIS), Goodman School of Business, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. Electronic address: michael.armstrong@brocku.ca. |
| Πηγή: | American journal of preventive medicine [Am J Prev Med] 2026 Feb; Vol. 70 (2), pp. 108176. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Oct 28. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Observational Study |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Science Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 8704773 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-2607 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 07493797 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Prev Med Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Amsterdam : Elsevier Science Original Publication: [New York, NY] : Oxford University Press, [c1985- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Driving Under the Influence*/statistics & numerical data , Driving Under the Influence*/legislation & jurisprudence , Police*/statistics & numerical data , Automobile Driving*/statistics & numerical data , Automobile Driving*/legislation & jurisprudence , Marijuana Use*/legislation & jurisprudence , Cannabis*, Canada/epidemiology ; COVID-19/epidemiology ; Humans ; Adult ; Law Enforcement ; Legislation, Drug ; Male ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Female |
| Περίληψη: | Introduction: When Canada legalized recreational cannabis in 2018, it also enhanced enforcement against impaired driving. This observational study analyzed how police-reported impaired driving rates evolved after those 2 policy changes. Methods: The study analyzed province-level annual counts of driving impaired by alcohol, drugs (including but not limited to cannabis), or both during 2009-2023. The data were published in 2024 and analyzed in 2025. Interrupted time-series regressions tested for changes in annual impairment rates per million population aged ≥16 years after 2018. Further regressions tested whether the changes were associated with legal cannabis sales, cannabis use prevalence, police drug recognition expert employment, or COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Results: During 2009-2018, alcohol-related impaired driving rates were decreasing, whereas those involving drugs were increasing. During 2019-2023, police reported 65 (95% CI=36, 93) extra drug-impaired incidents per million population annually or 42% more than the 2009-2018 trend had projected. Police also reported 280 (95% CI=134, 425) extra alcohol-impaired incidents per million population annually or 17% more than projected. New offenses covering mixed alcohol and drug impairment or unspecified-substance impairment added more incidents. Drug-impaired incidents were positively associated with drug expert employment, pandemic restrictions, and licensed cannabis sales (p<0.05). Alcohol-impaired incidents were positively associated with drug expert employment but negatively with pandemic restrictions (p<0.05). Conclusions: Canada's police-reported impaired driving rates increased after 2018 for alcohol and more so for drugs. The changes seemed associated more with enhanced enforcement and pandemic disruptions rather than with legal cannabis sales or overall cannabis use. (Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20251030 Date Completed: 20260122 Latest Revision: 20260129 |
| Update Code: | 20260130 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.amepre.2025.108176 |
| PMID: | 41167504 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-2607 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.amepre.2025.108176 |