Cannabis consumption makes people nearly two times as likely to get into a car accident, according to a new study.
Researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada found that individuals who smoke marijuana within three hours of operating a vehicle heighten their risk of crashing compared with people not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
According to Medical News Today, the researchers analyzed nine investigations involving 49,411 people. Previous studies had difficulty drawing any definitive conclusions about the risk of collision after cannabis use, the study authors noted.
The research, published Friday in the British Medical Journal, examined car accidents on public roads that involved one or more moving vehicles. Cannabis consumption was evidenced by blood tests or self-report.
When taken together, the nine studies revealed that drivers under the influence of marijuana showed nearly twice the risk of getting into an accident. Seven of the studies demonstrated that cannabis users had a higher risk of collision than unimpaired drivers, while the other two studies found that those who smoked marijuana within a few hours of driving had a lower risk of getting into an accident than sober individuals.
