Legal Medical Marijuana Leads to Safer Roads, Lower Auto Insurance Premiums

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A new study links the legalization of medical cannabis with lower auto insurance premiums that have resulted in fewer accidents on the road. The study estimates that legalization reduced auto accident-related health spending by $820 million annually.

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The study estimates that another $350 million could be saved if the federal government legalized cannabis. The study’s findings, led by researchers at the Fox School of Business at Temple University, go far beyond concerns put forth by cannabis legalization opponents that roadways in legal states would be filled with dangerously stone-pelting drivers.

The researchers published the study in Health Economics. He theorized that the reduction in accidents that led to the reduction in insurance rates was partly driven by fewer people driving while intoxicated because they had access to cannabis.

related: Marijuana legalization has a surprising effect on crime

Does Cannabis Reduce Alcohol Intake?

The legalization of cannabis seems to have accelerated a trend that began years ago: The younger American generation tends to drink less alcohol. Part of this is their different attitude towards cannabis.

A recent survey found that 58 percent of Americans think that alcohol is more harmful to a person’s health than cannabis. There’s a huge divide between generations: 71 percent of millennials, 63 percent of Gen Zs, 55 percent of Gen X, 51 percent of baby boomers, and just 27 percent of the silent generation think alcohol is more harmful than weed.

But has that belief led people to switch from alcohol to cannabis? Some studies indicate that is happening. For example, a University of Washington study found that legal cannabis use decreased alcohol use in the past month by 21- to 24-year-olds. And Massachusetts reported that cannabis sales exceeded alcohol sales in 2021.

In California, this has also given rise to a trend called “Cali Sober” in which people eliminate or greatly reduce their use of alcohol in favor of cannabis.

related: How much tax revenue did legal weed generate in 2021?

auto insurance premium reduction

The study analyzed insurance data from 2014 to 2019 in states that legalize medical marijuana. Researchers found that premiums fell an average of $22 per year after states made medical cannabis legal.

The researchers attributed that decline to safer roads, believing that reduced drunk driving was the cause. The link between legalized medical cannabis and improved road safety reduced health expenses related to auto accidents. This reduced insurance premiums by about $1.5 billion over the years studied.

The researchers also found that “the effect is more significant in areas near the dispensary and in areas with a high prevalence of drunk driving before legalization.”

The study provides another point to consider for lawmakers in states where medical marijuana is illegal or limited in use. Those states include large states such as Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

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