By: Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette
Society once vilified marijuana. Later generations of hipsters laughed off the stigma.
Now, mounting evidence has brought things full circle — vindicating the psychoactive drug’s original critics after all.
Today’s high-potency pot — legalized for recreational use in Colorado in 2012 and in over two dozen other states since then — is leaving a trail of destruction. Whether it’s marijuana’s devastating impact on the mental health of our youth, or on the safety of our highways, it’s drawing overdue scrutiny that is justified by hard data.
Pot’s toll in traffic fatalities in particular is back in the news. A new study by Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, looked at driver autopsy results from car crashes in surrounding Montgomery County, Ohio, from 2019 to 2024. It turned out more than 40% of the drivers who had died in those accidents had elevated levels of pot’s THC in their blood.
The Wall Street Journal recounted the compelling findings in an editorial last week, observing, “Auto fatalities have increased over the last decade even as cars have become safer and alcohol consumption has fallen. Could marijuana be contributing to more reckless driving?”
“It’s a fair question,” the Journal’s editorial continued. “Nearly a quarter of 18- to 25-year-olds used marijuana in the last month, according to a federal survey. As did 15% of those 26 or older.”
Pot pioneer Colorado is of course no newcomer to marijuana’s role in traffic tragedy. The chief of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s highway safety office testified at a hearing in 2023 before the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division that more drivers involved in fatal crashes were testing positive for THC. And half of all drivers who tested positive showed levels above 5 nanograms per milliliter, the state standard for THC intoxication.
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Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.
