Marijuana Use in Older Drivers in Colorado: A LongROAD Study
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Summary
This study investigates marijuana use among older adult drivers (ages 65–79) in Colorado and its association with risky driving behaviors and adverse outcomes. Motivated by rising national trends in cannabis use among older adults and Colorado’s legalization of recreational marijuana, the research aims to characterize usage patterns and assess safety implications. The analysis utilized baseline data from the Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study, focusing exclusively on the Colorado site, which was the only location collecting marijuana use data at baseline. The sample comprised 598 participants who were licensed drivers with no significant cognitive impairment. Data collection occurred between August 2015 and March 2017. The study employed a cross-sectional design using self-reported survey data. Participants were categorized as past-year marijuana users or nonusers. Researchers assessed demographic characteristics, health conditions, mental health status (using PROMIS measures), and specific driving behaviors, including driving within one hour of marijuana use, driving while potentially over the legal blood-alcohol limit, and involvement in crashes or police actions. Statistical analysis involved calculating crude prevalence ratios and adjusted odds ratios using log-binomial and logistic regression models, controlling for sociodemographic and health confounders. Key findings indicate that 9.0% of participants reported marijuana use in the past year, a rate substantially higher than national averages, likely due to Colorado’s legal status and recent data collection timing. Among users, one-third used marijuana at least weekly, yet only 0.8% reported driving within one hour of use. Past-year marijuana users exhibited poorer mental and social health profiles, including higher rates of anxiety, depression, and lower emotional support, though none reported substance abuse disorders. Crucially, past-year marijuana users were four times more likely to report driving when they may have been over the legal blood-alcohol limit (adjusted OR = 4.08). However, marijuana use was not significantly associated with an increased likelihood of self-reported crashes or police citations in the past year (adjusted OR = 1.36). The study concludes that while driving immediately after marijuana use is rare among older Colorado drivers, past-year marijuana use serves as a marker for increased risk of alcohol-impaired driving. The lack of association with crash risk may reflect the small sample size of users or the rarity of driving under the influence of cannabis. The authors note limitations regarding generalizability due to the affluent, highly educated sample and reliance on self-report. They emphasize the need for further research on the combined effects of marijuana, alcohol, and other medications on driving safety in older adults.
Key finding
Among 598 older Colorado drivers, past-year marijuana use was associated with roughly fourfold higher adjusted odds of self-reported drinking-and-driving but not with significantly increased odds of self-reported crashes or police actions in the past year.
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 bulk_ingest_aaa_foundation on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | author_sweep | — | — | 3 | 2026-05-28 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 19 | 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