title: Marijuana use and car crash injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between marijuana use prior to driving, habitual marijuana use and car crash injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population based case-control study in Auckland, New Zealand.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case vehicles were all cars involved in crashes in which at least one occupant was hospitalized or killed anywhere in the Auckland region, and control vehicles were a random sample of cars driving on Auckland roads. The drivers of 571 case and 588 control vehicles completed a structured interview.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self reported marijuana use in the 3 hours prior to the crash/survey and habitual marijuana use over the previous 12 months were recorded, along with a range of other variables potentially related to crash risk. The main outcome measure was hospitalization or death of a vehicle occupant due to car crash injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Acute marijuana use was significantly associated with car crash injury, after controlling for the confounders age, gender, ethnicity, education level, passenger carriage, driving exposure and time of day (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.2-12.9). However, after adjustment for these confounders plus other risky driving at the time of the crash (blood alcohol concentration, seat-belt use, travelling speed and sleepiness score), the effect of acute marijuana intake was no longer significant (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.2-3.3). There was a strong significant association between habitual use and car crash injury after adjustment for all the above confounders plus acute use prior to driving (OR 9.5, 95% CI 2.8-32.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This population-based case-control study indicates that habitual use of marijuana is strongly associated with car crash injury. The nature of the relationship between marijuana use and risk-taking is unclear and needs further research. The prevalence of marijuana use in this driving population was low, and acute use was associated with habitual marijuana use, suggesting that intervention strategies may be more effective if they are targeted towards high use groups.
authors.affiliation: The George Institute For International Health, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia. sblows@thegeorgeinstitute.org
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blows
authors.forename: Rebecca Q
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Ivers
authors.forename: Jennie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Connor
authors.forename: Shanthi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ameratunga
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Norton
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*