Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson Credit: Molly Walsh

Vermont motor vehicle deaths are likely to increase if the state legalizes marijuana, Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson predicted Tuesday.

“You are going to see more fatalities on the roadways,” Anderson said at a Statehouse meeting of the Marijuana Advisory Commission.

His conclusion came as part of a report he gave to the legislative panel in his role as chair of its highway safety subcommittee. Health Commissioner Mark Levine, another subcommittee chair, also presented Tuesday.

The commission is tasked with reporting back to the legislature with its findings in January.

Legalization of recreational marijuana has been heavily debated in Vermont. A measure passed both the House and Senate earlier this year before Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the bill.

He instead established the Marijuana Advisory Commission to gather and analyze research on various aspects of pot use, including its impact on driving, health, taxes and crime.

Click here to read Tuesday’s reports and presentations.

Anderson presented some analysis on crash data and marijuana use. As of October 23, at least 11 drivers involved in fatal Vermont wrecks this year tested positive for marijuana, he said. Some of those drivers also had alcohol in his or her system.

Anderson said that Vermont data also show that drivers under the influence of marijuana have been involved in more crashes since the state decriminalized the possession of small amounts of weed in 2013.

His subcommittee, though, had trouble researching the impact of marijuana legalization on crime. “It’s not an area where we have great data,” Anderson conceded.

Levine, who chairs the education and prevention subcommittee, said there is moderate evidence to suggest that cannabis use is associated with impaired academic achievement. There’s also evidence that it is associated with development of “acute psychosis” in some users, he said. Frequency of use, and age of the user, is a factor in such associations, the studies showed.

Levine also presented Vermont Health Department data on marijuana-related emergency room visits, which increased from 368 in 2011, to 741 in 2015.

But many questions about cannabis can’t be fully answered because the drug has only been legalized in a few states, Levine said. The federal government considers marijuana a Schedule I drug, meaning its scientific study has been severely hindered.

Bias, mistaken conclusions about cause and effect, and unrepresentative samples are other problems. Still, Levine cited several studies as “authoritative” and included new data released as recently as last week.

One question of interest for many is whether marijuana would help opioid-addicted people. But Levine concluded that there is no solid evidence that marijuana use blunts the risk of fatal overdoses, as some have suggested. There are too many studies “on both sides of the fence” to come to a firm conclusion on the issue, Levine said.

Several members of the committee asked questions about the details and reliability of the research. Assembling as much information as possible will help lawmakers as the debate around pot ramps up during the coming legislative session, said Rep. Ann Pugh (D-South Burlington).

“I’m trying to make sense of the data,” Pugh told Seven Days after the meeting. She has supported legalizing medical — but not recreational — marijuana.

The Marijuana Advisory Commission made no recommendations on Tuesday.

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Molly Walsh was a Seven Days staff writer 2015-20.

22 replies on “Public Safety Commissioner Fears Legal Pot Will Increase Traffic Deaths”

  1. From the article:

    >>>”11 drivers involved in fatal Vermont wrecks this year tested positive for marijuana, he said. Some of those drivers also had alcohol in his or her system.”

    Wow. Such ignorance in elected officials and the “journalists” who report on them. – While alcohol present in the system indicates intoxication and impairment. – “Drug tests” that show marijuana in the system neither indicate intoxication nor impairment. – They only show NON-PSYCHOACTIVE trace metabolites that stay in the system for up to a month.

    >>>”Anderson said that Vermont data also show that drivers under the influence of marijuana have been involved in more crashes since the state decriminalized the possession of small amounts of weed in 2013.”

    Again, this “data” does NOT show these drivers CAUSED accidents. What likely happened is some unfortunate, non-impaired marijuana consumers were crashed into by drunk, texting or otherwise genuinely impaired driver.

    Marijuana is not alcohol. The preponderance of the research shows marijuana consumption is NOT a significant cause of auto accidents. In 2015, the Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk report, produced by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found that while drunken driving dramatically increased the risk of getting into an accident, there was no evidence that using marijuana heightened that risk.

    In fact, after adjusting for age, gender, race and alcohol use, the report found that drivers who had recently consumed marijuana were no more likely to crash than drivers who were not intoxicated at all.

  2. re “How could you not push back?” it’s a news story about what administration officials said at a public hearing, not an interview.

  5. How could you not push back on Levine’s comments regarding opioid overdose deaths and marijuana legalization? He said there’s “studies on both side of the fence.” Did you ask him to provide proof? Because we haven’t seen evidence that marijuana legalization is causing increased opioid overdoses or deaths – anywhere.

  6. We previously dug into these numbers in great detail on Heady Vermont, here are a few important pieces that should also be considered:

    + Vermont is presently in the top 10% nationally for safest roads in the country.
    + The number of ALL traffic deaths in Vermont is roughly half the number of suicide deaths annually.
    + The cause of traffic deaths in Vermont attributed to marijuana means that the autopsy included a blood test that showed ANY traces of THC with zero indication of actual impairment. Leading causes of road deaths in Vermont: speed, no seatbelts, alcohol; THC related roadside deaths are identical to motorcycles.
    + Vermont is ALREADY #3 in the country for percentage of the population that have used cannabis in the last month; cannabis is already widely used in this state.
    + The State of Vermont has already spent over $120,000 on a drugged driving media campaign and to fund an “impaired driving coordinator” who spent taxpayer money to host an impaired driving summit last fall.

    Any readers (and reporters) that want more details or to use these statistics to combat the ridiculous Reefer Madness statements coming from the Scott administration with actual facts, please feel free to use these statistics and sources, all of which are linked and cited on our original Heady Vermont reporting : http://headyvermont.com/much-ado-about-not…

  9. People in Vermont already drive like their stoned. I still can’t get over that most people are genuinely surprised when the light turns green. Forget about anyone pulling out if there is no light.

  10. VT is in the dark ages. These people are fools. Cannabis stays in your system longer than other drugs. Plus, people are already consuming cannabis and driving now. When will the politicians listen to the people?

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