18-0054_AAAFTS Older Driver Marijuana Brief_v5-6 TABLE 2
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Summary
This research brief examines marijuana use among older adult drivers (ages 65–79) in Colorado and its association with risky driving behaviors and adverse outcomes. The study was motivated by recent national trends showing significant increases in marijuana use among adults aged 65 and older, as well as Colorado’s legalization of recreational marijuana. The authors aimed to characterize the prevalence of use in this demographic and determine if it correlates with driving impairment or crashes. The study utilized baseline data from the Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study, specifically from the Colorado site, which was the only location collecting marijuana use data at the time. The sample consisted of 598 drivers who were enrolled between August 2015 and March 2017. Participants were required to have a valid license, drive at least once a week, and have no significant cognitive impairment. Researchers compared past-year marijuana users (n=54, 9.0% of the cohort) with non-users. Data collection included self-reported marijuana use frequency, driving within one hour of use, alcohol consumption, mental health status, and incidents of crashes or police actions. Statistical analyses included log-binomial regression for prevalence ratios and logistic regression for adjusted odds ratios, controlling for potential confounders such as income, education, and cognitive function. The results indicated that while past-year marijuana use was relatively low at 9.0%, it was substantially higher than rates reported in national surveys, likely due to Colorado’s legal status and increasing national trends. Among users, one-third used marijuana at least weekly, but only 0.8% reported driving within one hour of use. Past-year marijuana users were significantly more likely to report driving when they may have been over the legal blood-alcohol limit, with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.08 (95% CI: 2.02, 8.22). However, marijuana use was not associated with a significantly increased likelihood of self-reported crashes or police actions in the past year (adjusted OR=1.36; 95% CI: 0.70, 2.66). Additionally, marijuana users exhibited worse mental, social, and emotional health outcomes, including higher rates of anxiety and lower emotional support, though none reported diagnosed substance abuse disorders. The findings suggest that while older drivers in Colorado rarely drive immediately after marijuana use, past-year use is a marker for increased risk of driving under the influence of alcohol. This is concerning given that simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis can lead to higher blood concentrations of THC and greater impairment. The lack of association with crashes may reflect the small sample size of users or the rarity of driving while impaired by marijuana in this group. The authors conclude that further research is needed to understand the interplay between marijuana, alcohol, and other medications affecting cognition in older drivers, noting that results may not be generalizable to other populations due to the specific demographic and legal context of the Colorado cohort.
Key finding
Past-year marijuana users were four times more likely to report driving when potentially over the legal blood-alcohol limit compared to non-users, though marijuana use was not associated with an increased risk of crashes or police actions.
Methodology
survey
Sample size: 598
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via author_sweep_intake on 2026-05-27.
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | author_sweep | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-27 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-06 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-07 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-07 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-07 |
| enrich | skipped | — | — | — | 4 | 2026-07-02 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence