Riding High: How Cannabis Use Increases E-Scooter Injury Risk

As cannabis becomes more accepted and cities adopt new ways to get around, e-scooters have taken off as a fun and eco-friendly way to travel.  Cannabis also continues to gain popularity for its wide range of potential medicinal benefits – from pain relief and anxiety reduction to help with sleep, inflammation, and appetite.  But just because cannabis has therapeutic value does not mean it is free from risk.  In fact, when used in situations that require alertness and coordination, like riding a scooter, it can create real safety concerns.

Mixing cannabis use with high-speed scooters is not as harmless as it might seem.  Research is showing how cannabis-related impairment can raise the chances of serious injury, especially with the speed that modern e-scooters can travel at, and their exposure to full-size vehicles.

E-Scooters: Not Just Harmless Fun

A recent study¹ published in The American Surgeon looked at over 7,000 hospitalizations involving e-scooter injuries between 2016 and 2021.  The results were eye-opening, with roughly one in four of those injured having a substance in their system, such as cannabis, alcohol, opioids, or cocaine.  Over those five years, e-scooter-related hospital stays went from 330 a year to more than 2,700.  Those who had used substances were also more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries and racked up an average of $4,600 USD more in hospital bills than those who had not.

On the surface, e-scooters may seem like a safe and convenient way to get around.  Don’t let this fool you, though, as many can go quite fast, even reaching speeds of 20mph (25 to 30 kph) and up.  Unlike cars, scooters do not offer any built-in protection.  There are no seatbelts, no airbags, and little to shield riders from injury.  When riding near large, fast-moving vehicles, even a split-second delay in judgment can lead to serious harm.

How Cannabis Affects the Brain and Body

Cannabis affects several parts of the brain, including those responsible for reaction time, balance, judgment, and awareness.  While alcohol levels in the blood tend to give a clear picture of impairment, THC – the main psychoactive compound in cannabis – works differently.  It stays in the body longer and affects people in different ways depending on how much they take, how they consume it, and even their mood at the time.

Here are some of the ways cannabis can impair someone:

• Slower reaction times can affect your ability to brake or avoid danger
• A distorted sense of risk, which might lead you to take chances you normally would not
• Worsened coordination and balance, which are essential for steering and stability
• Short-term memory and focus problems make it harder to deal with fast-changing situations

According to the CDC and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), these effects can last for hours.  Even if someone feels “sober,” they might still be impaired.  When cannabis is combined with alcohol or other substances, as it often is in e-scooter crashes, the risk becomes even greater.

Why Cannabis Impairment Is Hard to Measure

One of the biggest challenges for police and health officials is how tricky it is to measure cannabis impairment.  Unlike alcohol, there is no universal threshold that shows whether someone is too high to ride.  THC is stored in fat cells, so it can show up in the body long after the high has faded, or it might not show up much even when someone is feeling its full effects.

Roadside tests for cannabis are improving, including saliva tests and officer training, but we are still a long way from having tools as accurate and widely used as breathalyzers.

The Public Still Underestimates the Risk

One problem is that a lot of people simply do not view cannabis the same way they view alcohol when it comes to impairment.  A technical report from the AAA Foundation found that only 70 percent of respondents thought it was very dangerous to drive an hour after using cannabis, compared to 94 percent for alcohol.

This gap in understanding likely extends to scooters and other smaller vehicles.  Many people see e-scooters as casual tools or toys.  But the data shows that impaired riders are taking real risks, especially in cities with unpredictable traffic and minimal protection.

Final Thoughts: Make Safety the Priority

As cities continue to add e-scooters into the mix and cannabis use becomes more normalized, there is a shared responsibility to raise awareness about safety.  Cannabis users need to understand how long the effects can last and how they might affect more than just their mindset – they can affect motor skills, judgment, and awareness too.

It might seem harmless to jump on a scooter after getting high, especially for a short ride on a familiar street.  But these vehicles move fast, have almost no protection, and often share the road with large vehicles.  All it takes is one misjudged move to end up in a hospital.

We already know not to drive under the influence.  It is time to extend that same thinking to e-scooters and other forms of motorized travel.

Studies Referenced:

^{1. Benharash H, Cho NY, Coaston T, et al. National Prevalence and Associated Outcomes of Substance Use in Scooter-Related Trauma. The American SurgeonTM. 2025;0(0). doi:10.1177/00031348251337140}