Gender Differences in the Willingness of College Students to Drive While Under the Influence of Marijuana

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Washington have published a study that shows major gender differences in the willingness of college students to drive motor vehicles while under the influence of marijuana.

The study found that 44 percent of college men who used marijuana drove after using the drug. But only 9 percent of women college students who smoked marijuana drove while under the influence of the drug. Only 7 percent of all college students reported that they had operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

More than half of all male college students said they were passengers in a vehicle driven by someone they knew was under the influence of marijuana. Some 35 percent of women college students admitted that they had ridden in a vehicle operated by someone under the influence of marijuana.

Jennifer Whitehill, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts and the lead author of the study, stated, “There seems to be a misconception that marijuana use is totally safe, but as an injury prevention researcher I dispute that. We’ve done a good job in public health with messages about the risks of driving after alcohol use. But our study suggests we must do better when it comes to marijuana.” And this is particularly true for young men.

Dr. Whitehilll is a graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The article, “Marijuana-Using Drivers, Alcohol-Using Drivers, and Their Passengers: Prevalence and Risk Factors Among Underage College Students,” was published on the website of the journal JAMA Pediatrics. It may be accessed here.