Will marijuana legalization lead to a drunk driving epidemic in Florida?

As Florida voters consider legalizing marijuana in November, opponents are painting a frightening picture of what could happen: an epidemic of drugged drivers that will make the state’s roads more dangerous and deadly.

But research from other states that have legalized marijuana is inconclusive, and supporters of Amendment 3 argue that treating the drug like alcohol — making it legal but regulated — will make Floridians safer.

Two of Florida’s largest and most influential law enforcement groups oppose the measure, believing it will lead to more road deaths.

If you need an example, you can point to the horrific accident in May in Ocala, where eight farmworkers died. Their bus was hit by a truck driven by a man who told police he had smoked marijuana oil and taken prescription drugs.

Paula Cobb, whose daughter was killed near the University of Central Florida by a driver police believe was under the influence of marijuana, said Florida will need a plan — and tougher penalties for those who smoke and get behind the wheel — if the ballot measure passes.

“We need to better train our law enforcement and give them better tools, better education, stronger regulations and guidance,” said Cobb, who lives in Columbia, South Carolina.

Her daughter, London Harrell, then a senior at UCF, was struck by a hit-and-run driver as she walked home in 2019 from The Knight’s Pub near campus. The driver, Yousuf Hasan, left Harrell dying in the street. Hasan, 30, failed a field sobriety test and a blood test detected the active ingredient in marijuana. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Cobb is not opposed to legalization, but he believes states need to be prepared. In particular, he said educational campaigns are important to make the public aware of the dangers of marijuana and driving.

The amendment needs at least 60% support from Florida voters in the Nov. 5 election to legalize recreational marijuana. Several polls have shown Amendment 3 exceeding that threshold, though one from Florida Atlantic University showed it barely surpassing it, with 56% support.

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, and drunk driving has been an issue for policymakers. Minnesota launched a massive public education campaign to coincide with marijuana legalization, warning about the dangers of smoking and driving and reiterating that drugged driving is a crime. Colorado includes marijuana industry representatives on its drunk driving task force.

The Florida Highway Patrol has already highlighted the problem of marijuana-impaired driving with the “Drive Baked, Get Busted” campaign. The agency launched billboards, posters and video ads in 2018 following the state’s vote to legalize medical marijuana.

‘Driving under the influence of marijuana is difficult to detect’

Finding and then successfully prosecuting marijuana-impaired drivers isn’t easy, said Joel Leppard, an Orlando DUI attorney.

“Driving under the influence of marijuana is difficult to detect,” he said. “Officers are trained to detect drunk drivers, not drugged ones. The roadside drills they use are designed for alcohol, not marijuana. And experts who are trained to recognize the effects of drugs are few, so they rarely intervene in these cases.”

Although breathalyzers are being developed to detect marijuana, none are reliable or widely available. Florida and many other states do not have a standard limit for marijuana’s active ingredient in the blood, meaning there is no clear threshold for prosecution, as there is with alcohol. Marijuana can also remain in the system for weeks, making it difficult to determine whether someone drove under the influence.

As marijuana becomes legal across the country, specialized officers, known as drug recognition experts, are in short supply.

According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Florida law enforcement has 342 drug recognition experts, who are trained to detect drugged drivers. That’s about one drug recognition expert for every 66,000 Florida residents.

The Florida Highway Patrol has 54, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has six drug recognition experts. But all county officers receive a blanket penalty for driving under the influence, said Michelle Guido, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina is among law enforcement leaders concerned about legalization and issued a statement asking voters to consider the dangers of drunk driving. The Florida Sheriffs Association and the Florida Police Chiefs Association oppose Amendment 3.

Marijuana is already available in an unregulated street market, said Morgan Hill, a spokeswoman for Safe & Smart Florida, the group backing Amendment 3, when asked about the issue of marijuana-impaired driving.

“We expect adults to make responsible decisions and believe that no one should be driving under the influence of any substance,” she said. “We look forward to working with the Legislature to ensure that there is ongoing education and common-sense regulation to help our law enforcement officers identify and stop impaired driving of any substance.”

How dangerous is it to drive under the influence of drugs?

Marijuana impairs driving by slowing reaction times, impairing distance judgment and decreasing coordination, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Guohua Li, a researcher at Columbia University, has been studying whether legalizing marijuana leads to more fatal accidents.

It is difficult to draw conclusions from accident statistics because traffic deaths in recent years have been affected by improved safety features in cars and ride-sharing services such as Uber, which make it easier for drunk people to avoid driving.

Additionally, studying marijuana-related driving deaths can be tricky, as some drivers may test positive for the drug even if they smoked it a week before the crash. In other cases, a driver may have used marijuana but also other drugs or alcohol, making it difficult to determine marijuana’s role in a crash.

Road deaths have been declining steadily for 30 years, but progress stalled in the past decade and went in the wrong direction in 2020 and 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Studies on the role of marijuana legalization in this trend have yielded conflicting results, but Li said he believes legalization has led to more trafficking deaths.

“More scientifically rigorous methods have shown that recreational cannabis legalization is associated with a modest but statistically significant increase in fatal motor vehicle accidents,” he said.

Research has shown that marijuana is even more dangerous when mixed with alcohol, something that is becoming more common with legalization, Li added.

Legalization advocates, however, point to a study that showed changes in traffic death rates in Washington and Colorado were not statistically different from those in similar states that did not legalize marijuana.

In 2023, marijuana was involved in 190 traffic deaths in Florida, according to the Florida Office of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. It’s possible that those cases involved multiple drugs, as the state doesn’t provide statistics on accidents in which only marijuana was used.

People need to think about the consequences that drunk driving could have on others, Cobb said.

Her daughter’s future looked bright, she said. Harrell, who was studying event management at UCF, had just completed a summer internship in Amsterdam. In addition to her studies, she helped raise money for sick children and cancer patients.

“It took her life,” Cobb said. “It took so much away from the world — the potential she had already reached and the greatness of the person she was.”