Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov:110:106525.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106525. Epub 2020 Jun 26.

Sex differences in driving under the influence of cannabis: The role of medical and recreational cannabis use

Shawnta L Lloyd  1 , Catalina Lopez-Quintero  2 , Catherine W Striley  3
Affiliations

Sex differences in driving under the influence of cannabis: The role of medical and recreational cannabis use

Shawnta L Lloyd et al. Addict Behav. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Existing evidence suggest that cannabis may impair driving and is the most prevalent drug identified in drivers. Males exhibit an excess risk for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol compared to females. We assessed sex differences in the association between the reason for cannabis use (medical, recreational, or both) and driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC).

Methods: A sample of 17,405 past 12-month cannabis users (18 + years old) were analyzed from the 2016-17 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the interaction of sex and reason for cannabis use on DUIC using predicted probabilities.

Results: Among cannabis users in the sample, 88.1% used for recreational reasons, 7.8% used for medical reasons, and 4.1% used for medical and recreational reasons. The probability of DUIC was as low as 20% among female medical only users, and as high as 40% among male combined medical and recreational users. Females showed more similar probabilities of DUIC across reasons of use (range 20% to 25%s) than males (range 28% to 40%). The difference in the probability of DUIC between combined medical and recreational users and recreational only users was significantly greater among males than among females (Δ 0.1, p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The observed effects of sex and reasons for cannabis use on DUIC suggests a need for targeted educational interventions, particularly among males reporting combined medical and recreational marijuana use.

Keywords: Cannabis; Driving under the influence; Marijuana; Medical Cannabis; Recreational Cannabis; Sex.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Probability of driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) by sex and reason for cannabis use
Pr(DUIC)= Probability of driving under the influence of cannabis SE=Standard Error
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Agresti A (2013). Categorical Data Analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
    1. Aitken C, Kerger M, & Crofts N. (2000). Drivers Who Use Illicit Drugs: behaviour and perceived risks. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 7(1), 39–50. 10.1080/dep.7.1.39.50 - DOI
    1. Alvarez FJ, Fierro I, & Del Río MC (2007). Cannabis and driving: Results from a general population survey. Forensic Science International, 170(2–3), 111–116. 10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.03.024 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anderson BM, Rizzo M, Block RI, Pearlson GD, & O’Leary DS (2010). Sex Differences in the Effects of Marijuana on Simulated Driving Performance. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 42(1), 19–30. 10.1080/02791072.2010.10399782 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Armentano P. (2013). Cannabis and psychomotor performance: A rational review of the evidence and implications for public policy: Cannabis and psychomotor performance. Drug Testing and Analysis, 5(1), 52–56. 10.1002/dta.1404 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types