Aims
A
potential unintended consequence of legalizing recreational marijuana is
increased marijuana-related driving impairment. Some states where recreational
marijuana is legal have begun implementing interventions to mitigate driving
under the influence (DUI) of marijuana, including media campaigns to increase
knowledge about DUI laws. However, little is known about the associations
between knowledge of DUI laws and marijuana DUI behavior. In this study, we
provide new data from a survey of marijuana users in Colorado and Washington to
examine associations between marijuana drugged driving and two potential
behavioral precursors of marijuana DUI. We also explore other factors that may
influence marijuana DUI.
Methods
Data
are from an online survey of marijuana users in Colorado and Washington.
Respondents who reported any marijuana use in the past 30 days (n = 865) served
as the analytic sample. We examined prevalence of two behavioral outcomes: (1)
any driving of a motor vehicle while high in the past year and (2) driving a
motor vehicle within 1 hour of using marijuana 5 or more times in the past
month. Additional outcomes measuring willingness to drive while high were also
assessed. Logistic regressions were used to estimate each outcome as a function
of two multi-item scales measuring knowledge of the legal consequences of
driving high and perceptions that driving while high is not safe. Additional
covariates for potential confounders were included in each model.
Results
Prevalence
of past-year driving while under the influence of marijuana was 43.6% among
respondents. The prevalence of driving within 1 hour of using marijuana at
least 5 times in the past month was 23.9%. Increased perception that driving
high is unsafe was associated with lower odds of past-year marijuana DUI (OR =
0.31, P < 0.01) and lower past-month odds of
driving 5 or more times within 1 hour of using marijuana (OR = 0.26, P < 0.01). Increased knowledge of marijuana
DUI laws was also associated with lower odds of each of these outcomes (OR =
0.63, P < 0.01, OR = 0.69, P = 0.02, respectively). Post-estimation Wald
tests confirmed the negative associations with marijuana DUI were greater in
magnitude for safety perceptions than knowledge of DUI laws. Increased
perceptions that driving while high is unsafe was associated with significantly
lower willingness to drive after using marijuana while increased knowledge of
marijuana DUI laws was not associated with these outcomes.
Conclusions
Despite recent interventions targeting public awareness
of the legal consequences of marijuana DUI, our results suggest that knowledge
of these laws is a weaker predictor of DUI behavior than perceptions that
driving high is unsafe. In addition, safety perceptions predict decreased
openness to driving high while knowledge of DUI laws was not associated with
openness. These findings suggest that interventions for reducing the incidence
of marijuana DUI are likely to be more successful by targeting safety
perceptions related to marijuana DUI rather than knowledge of DUI laws. We
caution that because these data are limited to an online convenience sample,
results may not be generalizable beyond our sample.
Below: Driving while Under the Influence of Marijuana and Openness to Drive While High
Full article at: http://goo.gl/fzgF4t
By: Kevin C. Davis, Jane Allen, Jennifer Duke, James Nonnemaker,
Brian Bradfield, Matthew C. Farrelly, Paul Shafer, Scott Novak
RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States
of America
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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