Reefer Madness Reveresed – Traffic Fatalities Drop in States That Legalize Cannabis, Dispelling Anti-Pot Predictions

In many respects, 2020 and 2021 stood out as anomalies, particularly when examining trends in vehicular accidents. After decades of declining accident rates in the U.S., traffic fatalities surged in 2020 and remained elevated through 2021. The United States as a whole witnessed an 18.9% spike in traffic fatality rates from 2019 to 2021. States that legalized marijuana in 2016 experienced a similar increase of 19.9%. Conversely, states that had not legalized marijuana, often characterized by their more rural nature, saw the vehicular death rate decrease by 2.3% over that same period.