As marijuana legalization took effect in Ohio over the last year, the number of fatal traffic crashes in linked to cannabis fell by 30 percent—contrary to warnings from opponents of the policy change who feared it would lead to more deadly car accidents involving stoned drivers. That’s according to new preliminary data from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which found that proportion of impaired drivers suspected to be under the influence of marijuana also declined compared to 2023.
State voters approved marijuana legalization in November 2023, with use and possession becoming legal the following month. Adult-use cannabis sales, meanwhile, began last August.
All told, there were 1,150 fatal traffic crashes in Ohio during 2024—the exact same number as in 2023. But while 306 (27 percent) of those crashes in 2023 were suspected to have resulted from marijuana use, only 215 (19 percent) were linked to cannabis last year.
Impaired driving—referred to in Ohio as operating a vehicle under the influence, or OVI—also decreased from 2023 to 2024, with 644 fewer arrests last year compared to a year earlier. There were 83 fewer cannabis-related OVI arrests in 2024 compared to 2023.
In 2023, authorities logged 15,276 OVI arrests, about 10 percent
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