Academic Journal
The effects of recreational marijuana legalization on driving under the influence of marijuana in a neighboring state: A cross-border quasi-experiment.
| Τίτλος: | The effects of recreational marijuana legalization on driving under the influence of marijuana in a neighboring state: A cross-border quasi-experiment. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Moyer RA; University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies Program, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: ramoyer625@gmail.com. |
| Πηγή: | Journal of safety research [J Safety Res] 2026 Jun; Vol. 97, pp. 319-333. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Mar 26. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Pergamon Press Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 1264241 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-1247 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00224375 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Safety Res Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Elmsford, NY : Pergamon Press Original Publication: [Chicago] National Safety Council. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Accidents, Traffic*/statistics & numerical data , Driving Under the Influence*/statistics & numerical data , Automobile Driving*/statistics & numerical data , Marijuana Use*/legislation & jurisprudence , Cannabis*, Pennsylvania ; Humans ; Law Enforcement |
| Περίληψη: | Objectives: This study examines whether recreational marijuana (RM) legalization in neighboring states is associated with driving under the influence of marijuana in a non-legalizing state, as measured by motor-vehicle crashes involving a marijuana-positive driver (MP). Methods: Although Pennsylvania has not legalized RM, it borders five states that legalized RM at different time points in 2021 and 2023. This spatial and temporal variation enables a quasi-experimental stepped wedge design that assesses whether Pennsylvania counties that border a state with RM legalization experienced changes in MP motor-vehicle crash counts. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation data provide crash counts at the county-month level (January 2019-December 2024). Of primary interest are MP crashes where the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) was the reporting law enforcement agency (MP-PSP). Once RM legalization occurs in a contiguous state, a Pennsylvania county (N=27) bordering that state becomes Post-Exposure. Four Pennsylvania counties eventually bordered two states with RM legalization, becoming Post-Second-Exposure. Poisson regression was used to estimate changes in crashes in the Post-Exposure and Post-Second-Exposure periods relative to the Pre-Exposure period. Results: On average, a Pennsylvania county experienced a significant 58.41% increase in MP-PSP crashes Post-Exposure and a nonsignificant 55.48% increase Post-Second-Exposure. Where a border county has an interstate highway (N=20), on average, there was a significant 68.95% increase Post-Exposure and a nonsignificant 56.80% increase Post-Second-Exposure. Practical Applications: RM legalization in bordering states may impact traffic safety in a state that has not yet legalized RM. Future research should identify mechanisms for this association as well as actionable strategies to prevent marijuana-impaired driving. (Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The author declares that she has no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Borders; Driving under the influence; Marijuana; Motor-vehicle crashes; Traffic safety |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260615 Date Completed: 20260615 Latest Revision: 20260615 |
| Update Code: | 20260616 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jsr.2026.03.005 |
| PMID: | 42297484 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1879-1247 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jsr.2026.03.005 |