Car insurance premiums could rise as a result of legalized marijuana, experts say

Vehicle insurance claims in the Land of Lincoln could rise as the result of legalizing marijuana if Illinois follows a trend experienced in other states that allow the sale of recreational pot.

As early as next week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker could sign legislation allowing pot to be sold in the state starting Jan. 1, something transportation experts warn could cause safety concerns on the road.

Alyssa Connolly, director of market insights for the online insurance comparison site The Zebra, said one of the factors insurance companies study when setting insurance premiums on vehicles is related to the number of claims reported in a community. Claims can include traffic accidents or thefts.

When claims are really up, companies often implement rate increases, Connolly said.

Premiums in Illinois have been stable in recent years, she said. "That has the potential to change," Connolly said.

In the four states that were among the first to legalize pot -- Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington -- crashes were up by as much as 6% compared with neighboring states without legalized recreational weed, according to analysis of collision loss data from January 2012 through October 2017 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and an October 2018 report done by the Highway Loss Data Institute.

The highway safety group also examined 2012 -- 16 crashes reported to police before and after retail sales began in Colorado, Oregon and Washington and found the three states combined saw a 5.2% increase in the rate of crashes per million vehicle registrations, compared with neighboring states without legalized pot sales.

"The new IIHS-HLDI research on marijuana and crashes indicates that legalizing marijuana for all uses is having a negative impact on the safety of our roads," David Harkey, president of the two institutes, said in a release. "States exploring legalizing marijuana should consider this effect on highway safety."

While accident numbers have risen, attributing the cause directly to marijuana isn't as clear.

The IIHS-HLDI report notes many states don't include consistent information on driver drug use in crash reports, and policies and procedures for drug testing are inconsistent.

In addition, when drivers are tested, other drugs are often found in combination with alcohol, which makes it difficult to isolate their separate effects.

A possible reason for increased number of crashes could be drivers' perceptions of the dangers of driving high.

A report issued this month by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals an estimated 14.8 million drivers report getting behind the wheel within one hour after using marijuana in the past 30 days.

The 2019 Traffic Safety Culture Index surveyed a sample of 2,582 licensed drivers ages 16 and older who reported driving in the past 30 days.

"Marijuana can significantly alter reaction times and impair a driver's judgment," Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, said in a press release. "Yet many drivers don't consider marijuana-impaired driving as risky as other behaviors like driving drunk or talking on the phone while driving."

In the AAA Foundation survey, more than 13% of Americans viewed driving within an hour after using marijuana as only "slightly dangerous" or "not dangerous at all" -- far more than other risky behaviors, like alcohol-impaired driving (1.2%), drowsy driving (1%), and prescription drug-impaired driving (2.2%).

A similar report released in April by The Zebra showed 40.9% people who smoke pot regularly in states where it's legal say they never drive after consuming marijuana. That leaves nearly 60% who will get behind the wheel, whether they feel like they're impaired or not.

An increase in the number of crashes in states that have legalized marijuana is not surprising to Aaron Weiner, director of addiction services for Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville.

Weiner said studies show marijuana can slow a driver's reaction time and decision-making and can impair lateral coordination and distort perception.

He cited a 1991 study in which pilots flew a simulator before and four, eight, 24 and 48 hours after smoking a moderate social dose of marijuana.

The results of the study suggest "very complex human/machine performance can be impaired as long as 24 hours after smoking a moderate social dose of marijuana, and that the user may be unaware of the drug's influence."

"Marijuana does not behave like alcohol does," Weiner said, and that's because of how THC, the active ingredient of cannabis, works.

THC is attracted to fat in the body so it leaves the blood stream quickly, Weiner said, unlike alcohol that is concentrated in blood.

"The brain is a big ball of fat," Weiner said. "THC is in your brain longer than it's in your blood."

Determining whether a person is impaired or not can be tricky because no good test exists yet, Weiner said.

An individual's blood-alcohol content can be measured through a breath, blood or urine test to determine if a person is too drunk to drive.

But testing THC levels the same way is problematic, Weiner said, because THC does not stay in the blood long enough. A person can be high, though THC levels say otherwise, he said.

"Illinois needs to prepare for the impact legal marijuana use will have on the safety of its roads," Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for the Aurora-based AAA, said in a news release. "That includes more tools and training for law enforcement officers and a substantial public awareness effort, especially for teens and young adults."

Programs like Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement and the 50-State Drug Evaluation and Classification Program were developed to train law enforcement officers to more effectively recognize drug-impaired driving.

In the meantime, Naperville is grappling with how the city will prepare because the legislation the governor will sign allows existing medical marijuana dispensaries -- like 3C Compassionate Care Center at 1700 Quincy Ave. in Naperville -- to start selling to a broader base Jan. 1 as long as local municipal requirements are met.

City Manager Doug Krieger at Tuesday's City Council meeting said the Naperville dispensary has already approached the city for an adult use license.

The council can opt out of allowing the retail sale within city limits, and council members have until the end of 2020 to make that decision.

After the program's first year, the decision to opt out of retail sale of pot must be put to residents in a referendum question.

Regardless of whether Naperville decides to opt out or not, the city still has to add language on its use into its city code. That process could take about three months, city officials said Tuesday.

Naperville Sun reporter Erin Hegarty contributed.

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