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November 30, 2011 01:11 AM UTC

MARIJUANA = 9% DROP IN TRAFFIC DEATHS

  • 25 Comments
  • by: Whiskey Lima Juliet

A New Study Found That Laws Legalizing Medical Marijuana Have Resulted In A Nearly 9% Drop In Traffic Deaths And A 5% Drop In Beer Sales.

Our research suggests that the legalization of medical marijuana reduces traffic fatalities through reducing alcohol consumption by young adults,” said Daniel Rees, professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver. The study was co-authored by D. Mark Anderson, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University.

http://www.thedenverchannel.co…

The economists said they analyzed traffic fatalities nationwide, including the 13 states that legalized medical marijuana between 1990 and 2009. In those states, they found evidence that alcohol consumption by 20- through 29-year-olds went down, resulting in fewer deaths on the road.

And if the elected officials would like to argue jobs and economy, we have something for them there as well…

Marijuana sales tax in DENVER

from Jan 2011 – to Mar 2011 = $976,726

Marijuana sales tax in DENVER

from Jan 2010 – Dec 2010 = $3,580,336

Marijuana jobs (approx) created in DENVER 4,125 (from just direct hires to work in MMCs, MIPs and Grows)

All of this with no government assistance, without banking relationships, without business loans, with extreme restrictions on location and ownership and with NO INVESTMENT CAPITAL FROM OUT OF THE STATE OF COLORADO.

Comments

25 thoughts on “MARIJUANA = 9% DROP IN TRAFFIC DEATHS

  1. …go down in any states that still maintain the ban? Are there other factors that contributed to this decrease or did you just fall for the classic statistical fallacy?

      1. Quick scanning the paper, and I very well could have missed it, but it doesn’t look they provide stats for other states. If there’s even one state non-MMJ state where traffic deaths went down, it puts the whole premise into question.

        It’s making a bold, and quite erroneous, assumption that legalized MMJ is the reason for the whole drop (hell the headline to this post is MARIJUANA = 9% DROP IN TRAFFIC DEATHS). Can it contribute to the decrease, sure, it’s plausible. Is it the reason for the decrease? Most certainly not.

         

    1. …that saw drunk driving related fatalities fall. Just silly to claim this is the only reason and therefore all MMJ should be legalized when there could be other major factors (like, say, a decreased consumption of alcohol over all by the populations) that need to be added to the equation.

  2. My first two thoughts that this study might be bogus were that the tanking economy has reduced alcohol sales as well as caused people to drive less, so fewer traffic accidents and even fewer of them involving alcohol.

    From what I can see, the authors controlled for individual income, the unemployment rate, and miles driven per person. So… gee whiz. I wouldn’t say that it’s conclusive since there isn’t a comparison with other states (except a simple before and after with neighboring states on increased use) but this is definitely a thing.

  3. which went into effect 5 yearsa go and has dramatically (at least where I live) decreased the numbers of folks hanging out in bars. They’re doing their drinking at home

        1. I am always amazed at the people standing outside smoking a cigarette.  My mom is 77 and has been smoking since she was 13.  She will smoke outside in zero degrees.  I just don’t get it.  I guess that is what nicotine does to you!  LOL

  4. I do believe that number of people who smoke is huge.  Moreover, if we stop acting like Puritans and admit to ourselves that a good portion of America smokes pot, legalize it; we will have a drop in some issues and a huge drop in the incarceration rates.  Along with that, yes, more people will choose to smoke instead of get drunk.

    In the MMJ industry, we have VERY few alcoholics.  I have yet to see some drunk and disorderly at our events.  Not saying it has not happened, i just have not seen it.  However, i do see drunkenness at every Broncos game.  I see it in our restaurant after every Rockies game and i see it at just about every holiday party as the evening moves on.

    No doubt that stoned people are much more reasonable than drunk people are.  In addition, stoned people do not take the chances that drunk people do.

    Study after study is telling us to move forward with legalization.  No one caught smoking pot or selling pot should be arrested.  It is just not a crime against society, unless we are willing to outlaw cigrettes and alcohol.

    1. I wouldn’t mind seeing MJ legalized a la alcohol.  You can be arrested and charged for selling alcohol without a license, and considering the amount of drug cartel influence in MJ sales outside of the MMJ market, it would be wise to license MJ dealers – move more of the grow indstry back to the States.

    2. I have yet to get a call from someone saying, “My spouse has been smoking weed all day and now they’re breaking things and beating me up.” Alcohol is much worse than marijuana.

      And another thing: I don’t see how inhaling smoke, regardless of the source, is good for you. Smoking marijuana should not be considered “medicinal” and it’s stupid to classify it as such. Just completely legalize it from growing it to smoking it to baking brownies with it.

      1. MJ is so illegal in this country that they won’t even let you run medical trials on it, though.

        I did see one interesting study in the news not too long ago that the smoke from weed did not appear to have the same carcinogenic effects as tobacco smoke, though – and the reason wasn’t that the carcinogens weren’t present…  The research seems to indicate a counter-carcinogenic effect from some of the other compounds in Cannabis.  That could point to some interesting new medicine – if ever the FDA could be convinced to re-classify it.

        1. As a matter of fact there are studies that show smoking MJ actually lowers cancer growth in cigarette smokers.

          At Simply Pure, http://www.simplypure.com for medicinal use, we suggest that you don’t smoke cannabis.  Edibles and vaporizers are a much better option.

  5. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and you drive more recklessly.

    Pot makes people drive slower, if they’re motivated to get up at all.

    And, the economic facts you cite show that dealing drugs is a money making business.

    No big surprise.

    1. I have been dealing drugs for 20 years.  My suppliers are Coors, Barcadi, Stoli, etc.  And yes, those dealers make a tremendous amount of money and ruin thousands lives and are responsible for almost 100,000 deaths per year.

      I like to think of cannabis as a healing herb.  And the fact that we are investing in the future of Denver to the tune of $330,000 per month, all sounds like a good thing to me….

      1. Yesterday I was in Denver for a meeting and became lost downtown and drove by numerous dispensaries. The smell was overwhelming to me. I enjoyed it greatly, expected a concert to break out or something. alas, I found my way out and back to 6th West.

    2. Back in the day I was in severance with a friend who was too drunk to drive back to Denver.  I was stoned but not drunk.  So, I made the drive back safely.  But because of the harsh penalties on pot at that time, I took the precaution of splashing whiskey all over my face like after shave and gargling with it.  If stopped, I wanted to look drunk as a skunk, knowing I would actually pass any alcohol test.  In the event, I arrived safely after a very slow and cautious drive.  Today, I’d probably be pulled over for driving too slowly.

        Of course, from the perspective of the Medicare generation, I don’t recommend driving drunk or stoned.  

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