Pot-related crashes, preterm births up since legalization in Illinois – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

Marijuana legalization in Illinois has come with increased pot-involved deadly crashes, a rise in accidental ingestion among children, an association with psychotic disorders, and increases in preterm births by mothers using cannabis, a new study has found.

Reported benefits include decreases in marijuana-related arrests and in opioid and benzodiazepine-related fatalities.

Contrary to fears, there appears to be little to no increase so far in cannabis use among minors.

The findings come from the state’s annual cannabis report for 2023, conducted for the state by the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work.

The rate of fatal crash drivers who tested positive for marijuana rose from 25% in the two years before legalization to 37% in 2020, the first year of legal recreational sales in Illinois.

Michigan, the other Midwestern state to legalize general adult use at about the same time, saw a similar increase, while other neighboring states remained below 24%. The fatal crash rate for weed in Illinois exceeded that for alcohol, which remained at about 35%.

Drivers under 45 were much more likely to test positive in fatal crashes, while drivers who’d taken other drugs were also significantly more likely to be involved in a deadly crash.

The rate of self-reported driving under the influence of cannabis also doubled to 5.4% for those 26 and older between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

As the Tribune previously reported, the number of calls to the Illinois Poison…