Hands driving a steering wheel inside car in close view — Studia72 via iStock

AAA study reveals 53% of cannabis consumers get behind the wheel within an hour of use

Researchers are worried about the 19.4% of cannabis users surveyed who think they drive “much better” under the influence.

by Sarah Kennedy

Published on April 3, 2025 10:27 am

1 min read

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety just released an enlightening – okay, it’s actually really startling – report on just how comfortable folks are driving after consuming cannabis. The group surveyed 2,000 confirmed cannabis users living in eight U.S. states. Overall, users seemed pretty dang relaxed about getting behind the wheel shortly after getting high.

Frequent driving after cannabis use

84.8% of users reported driving on the same day they consumed it. This was slightly lower in fully legal states (78.4%) compared to medical-only (86.5%) and illegal states (87.9%).

Perceived impact on driving skills

19% believed their driving worsened after cannabis use, while 46.9% felt it stayed the same. Some thought it improved slightly (14.7%) or significantly (19.4%).

Police detection beliefs

29.2% thought police could detect cannabis impairment, 46.7% believed they couldn’t, and 24.1% were unsure. These views were similar across all states.

Legal awareness

Over 90% of respondents in fully legal states correctly identified their state’s status. However, 38.4% in medical-only states and 16.8% in illegal states mistakenly thought cannabis was fully legal.

Risk categories based on driving after cannabis use

Ultra-High Risk: 53% drove within an hour of use.
High Risk: 20% drove 2 to 3 hours after use.
Medium Risk: 12% drove 4 or more hours after use but still on the same day.
Low Risk: 15% waited at least 8 hours and slept before driving.

In AAA’s newsroom brief of the study, the group asserted that as cannabis gets more popular, so does impaired driving, which leads to increased collisions, injuries, and deaths.

The study also found that users tend to think of the cannabis industry as a “trustworthy and relatable source.” Users will likely start to see more PSA-style messaging from growers and retailers, then.

Editor-in-Chief

Sarah Kennedy

Sarah Kennedy is the Editor-in-Chief of MotorBiscuit. She joined the team as Managing Editor in 2021 and has more than 20 years of automotive and operations expertise. She held ASE certifications as an Automotive Service Consultant and Parts Specialist and was a licensed car salesperson for many years. Sarah often focuses on helping drivers navigate used car buying and vehicle ownership. She created “Shop Smarts,” a column for MOTOR Magazine, and was a contributor there for eight years. Her work earned her a Gold Medalist award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors in 2014 and Bronze Medalist awards from the International Automotive Media Competition in 2014 and 2015. She attended the Automotive Management Institute and earned her bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University.