Effects of Cannabis Legalization on Road Safety: A Literature Review

Francisco González-Sala (), Macarena Tortosa-Pérez, María Peñaranda-Ortega and Francisco Tortosa
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Francisco González-Sala: Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Universidad de Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Macarena Tortosa-Pérez: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Internacional de Valencia-VIU, 46002 Valencia, Spain
María Peñaranda-Ortega: Departamento de Psicología Básica y Metodología, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Francisco Tortosa: Instituto de Investigación en Tráfico y Seguridad Vial-INTRAS, Universidad de Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-22

Abstract: Background: Legalizing medical and recreational cannabis and decriminalizing this substance may have unanticipated effects on traffic safety. The present study aimed to assess the impact of cannabis legalization on traffic accidents. Methods: A systematic review was carried out following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) declaration of the articles included in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. The number of papers included in the review was 29. Results: The results show that in 15 papers, there is a relationship between the legalization of medical and/or recreational cannabis and the number of traffic accidents, while in 5 papers, no such relationship is observed. In addition, nine articles indicate a greater number of risk behaviors related to driving after consumption, identifying young, male, and alcohol consumption together with cannabis as the risk profile. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the legalization of medical and/or recreational cannabis has negative effects on road safety when considering the number of jobs that affect the number of fatalities.

Keywords: cannabis; marijuana; legalization; traffic accidents; road safety; systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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