TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - The annual cannabis holiday and fatal traffic crashes
JO  - Injury prevention
A1  - Harper, Sam
A1  - Palayew, Adam
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - BACKGROUND: Cannabis use has been linked to impaired driving and fatal accidents. Prior evidence suggests the potential for population-wide effects of the annual cannabis celebration on April 20th ('4/20'), but evidence to date is limited. <br><br>METHODS: We used data from the Fatal Analysis Reporting System for the years 1975-2016 to estimate the impact of '4/20' on drivers involved in fatal traffic crashes occurring between 16:20 and 23:59 hours in the USA. We compared the effects of 4/20 with those for other major holidays, and evaluated whether the impact of '4/20' had changed in recent years. <br><br>RESULTS: Between 1992 and 2016, '4/20' was associated with an increase in the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes (IRR 1.12, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.28) relative to control days 1 week before and after, but not when compared with control days 1 and 2 weeks before and after (IRR 1.05, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.28) or all other days of the year (IRR 0.98, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.10). Across all years we found little evidence to distinguish excess drivers involved in fatal crashes on 4/20 from routine daily variations. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: There is little evidence to suggest population-wide effects of the annual cannabis holiday on the number of drivers involved in fatal traffic crashes.      Keyword: Cannabis impaired driving  <br><br>© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1353-8047
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2018-043068
ID  - ref1
ER  -