Workplace Deaths Fell 34% After Medical Cannabis Legalization | Leafly - Emily Earlenbaugh:
May 29, 2019 - "Medical cannabis laws are associated with a staggering 34% decline in workplace deaths for adults age 25 to 44, a new study finds. The reason? Those workers might be drinking less alcohol and taking less pills due to legalization.
"Since 1996, a record 29 states have passed medical cannabis laws, many of them loose enough to attract recreational consumers.... Chambers of Commerce and other business groups have long-opposed reform, based on workplace safety concerns.... But after 23 years of medical cannabis laws, we can check the data on workplace safety and see how the medical states have done.
"A 2018 study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy zeroes in how workplace fatality statistics changed when a state had access to legal cannabis. In the paper, 'Medical marijuana laws and workplace fatalities in the United States,' researchers ... analyzed data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1992 and 2015.
"In states with legal cannabis, expected workplace fatalities went down by an average of 19.5% for workers who were 25 to 44 years old. This reduction in fatalities also grew stronger with time. In states that had medical cannabis laws for at least five years, researchers found a very large, 33.7% reduction for this age group’s workplace fatalities....
"Young adults particularly stand to benefit from legalization, in the form of decreased workplace deaths, the study found. While the study looked at all age groups, the 25 to 44 year-old group saw the declines. Workers who were ages 16 to 24, or 44 and above, saw no statistically significant changes in workplace deaths. D. Mark Anderson, Ph.D., one of the principal researchers on this project, says that this age-dependent result reflects the known effects of cannabis laws....
"But how does this work? Unfortunately, researchers still aren’t quite sure.... Anderson’s previous research concluded cannabis laws are associated with a 5% reduction in alcohol consumption. In one study, medical cannabis laws were associated with reductions in drinking and traffic fatalities in young adults. Drunk driving on the job is a major vector for workplace death....
"Medical cannabis laws are also associated with a 20 to 33% decrease in opioid deaths. This is particularly interesting, since Anderson’s workplace safety study found greater fatality reductions in states where ‘pain’ was a qualifying condition to receive cannabis....
"We may have to wait find out exactly how — but one thing is clear. The old worry that medical cannabis laws lead to increased accidents doesn’t hold water. Medical cannabis laws are associated with improved workplace safety."
Read more: https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/workplace-deaths-fell-34-after-medical-cannabis-legalization
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May 29, 2019 - "Medical cannabis laws are associated with a staggering 34% decline in workplace deaths for adults age 25 to 44, a new study finds. The reason? Those workers might be drinking less alcohol and taking less pills due to legalization.
"Since 1996, a record 29 states have passed medical cannabis laws, many of them loose enough to attract recreational consumers.... Chambers of Commerce and other business groups have long-opposed reform, based on workplace safety concerns.... But after 23 years of medical cannabis laws, we can check the data on workplace safety and see how the medical states have done.
"A 2018 study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy zeroes in how workplace fatality statistics changed when a state had access to legal cannabis. In the paper, 'Medical marijuana laws and workplace fatalities in the United States,' researchers ... analyzed data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1992 and 2015.
"In states with legal cannabis, expected workplace fatalities went down by an average of 19.5% for workers who were 25 to 44 years old. This reduction in fatalities also grew stronger with time. In states that had medical cannabis laws for at least five years, researchers found a very large, 33.7% reduction for this age group’s workplace fatalities....
"Young adults particularly stand to benefit from legalization, in the form of decreased workplace deaths, the study found. While the study looked at all age groups, the 25 to 44 year-old group saw the declines. Workers who were ages 16 to 24, or 44 and above, saw no statistically significant changes in workplace deaths. D. Mark Anderson, Ph.D., one of the principal researchers on this project, says that this age-dependent result reflects the known effects of cannabis laws....
"But how does this work? Unfortunately, researchers still aren’t quite sure.... Anderson’s previous research concluded cannabis laws are associated with a 5% reduction in alcohol consumption. In one study, medical cannabis laws were associated with reductions in drinking and traffic fatalities in young adults. Drunk driving on the job is a major vector for workplace death....
"Medical cannabis laws are also associated with a 20 to 33% decrease in opioid deaths. This is particularly interesting, since Anderson’s workplace safety study found greater fatality reductions in states where ‘pain’ was a qualifying condition to receive cannabis....
"We may have to wait find out exactly how — but one thing is clear. The old worry that medical cannabis laws lead to increased accidents doesn’t hold water. Medical cannabis laws are associated with improved workplace safety."
Read more: https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/workplace-deaths-fell-34-after-medical-cannabis-legalization
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