Marijuana Use in Older Drivers in Colorado: A LongROAD Study

This Research Brief used baseline data from the Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study to characterize marijuana use and its relation to self-reported driving outcomes in older adult drivers. Recent U.S. studies have demonstrated significant increases in marijuana use among adults ages 65+ over the past decade (Han et al., 2016; Hasin et al., 2015; Salas-Wright et al., 2017). Here, the authors describe marijuana use among 598 drivers ages 65-79 in Colorado and its relationship to risky driving behaviors and adverse outcomes. Of 54 participants (9.0%) who reported marijuana use in the past year, one-third used it at least weekly. The rate of past-year marijuana use in the Colorado LongROAD cohort was substantially higher than in recently reported nationally representative surveys, which may be due to national trends showing increasing use in older adults (Han et al., 2016) and to Colorado’s recent legalization of recreational marijuana (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2017). In the Colorado LongROAD cohort, older drivers rarely reported marijuana use within one hour of driving. However, past-year marijuana users were four times as likely to report having driven when they may have been over the legal blood-alcohol limit compared with those who had not used marijuana in the past year. Despite potential risks from both marijuana use and increased driving after drinking, there was no increase in the likelihood of having a crash or police action (e.g., being pulled over) in the past year in this sample of older drivers who reported using marijuana in the past year.

• Record URL:
  https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/18-0054_AAAFTS-Older-Driver-Marijuana-Brief_v5.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://aaafoundation.org/marijuana-use-in-older-drivers-in-colorado-a-longroad-study/
• Corporate Authors:

  AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • DiGuiseppi, Carolyn
  • Smith, A
  • Betz, Marian E
  • Hill, L
  • Lum, H
  • Eby, David W
  • Li, Guohua
• Publication Date: 2018-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Research Brief
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 7p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged drivers; Demographics; Drug use; Drugged drivers; High risk drivers; Marijuana; Surveys
• Identifier Terms: Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD)
• Geographic Terms: Colorado
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01685173
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 8 2018 5:23PM