Feds: No link between pot and car crashes

[Logical]

At what point do we stop arresting people for this drug?

Marijuana use has not been found to increase the risk of car crashes, according to a new federal report.

Studying car accidents in Virginia Beach, Va., during a 20-month period ending in 2012, researchers randomly sampled 3,000 accident-involved drivers and found no evidence suggesting those with marijuana in their system were more prone to accidents, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report released Friday.

When researchers controlled for factors such as age and gender, they found no evidence marijuana use increases accident risks. This was despite the fact that, in the study, drivers who tested positive for marijuana use happened to be involved in more accidents.

By comparison, the study found drivers with breath alcohol of .08 to be about four times more likely than sober drivers to be involved in accidents. Those nearly double the legal limit, at .15, were 12 times more likely to crash.

The study is billed as the largest ever conducted to assess the relative crash risk of drivers who consume alcohol compared to pot.

more at: http://thehill.com/homenews/232086-feds-find-no-link-between-pot-use-and-car-crashes

[Warpy]

1. Wow, another leg under the drug warrior argument kicked out from under them.

Good. We've been doing things completely wrong for a very long time, trying to punish the substance rather than human behavior.

If somebody is driving like an idiot, s/he needs to be off the road until the drug leaves the system, s/he gets adequate rest before getting back behind the wheel, or a medical problem is discovered and treated.

Testing for substances rather than impaired behavior was a shortcut. Getting impaired people off the road until the cause of the impairment is removed should be a better way to do things.

[duhneece]

4. I want more research

Do we see an increase in road rage among those who drink a lot of caffeine-heavy drinks, coffee or other caffeine laden crap?
Do we see an increase in auto accidents among those who take anti-histamine, antidepressant, ALL pain pills/any pain pills/which pain pills?
ditto anti-anxiety?
etc.

[Warpy]

5. Caffeine is unlikely to fuel road rage. Steroid abuse is more likely to,

which is why road rage cases involve mostly males. Meth and alcohol are other drugs that make it much more likely to happen.

All the other drugs you listed can affect reaction times and coordination, which is why they have those "don't operate heavy machinery until" warning labels on them. People do get used to the effects of all those drugs over days or weeks to the point that driving is not problematic.

The problem for the cops is that a urine test can't tell between acute intoxication and metabolite residue when it comes to cannabis. It would make far more sense to go by behavior than whether or not metabolites are picked up in a person's urine.

What this study said is that chronic cannabis users don't have any more traffic accidents than the rest of us, meaning finding the metabolites in a person's urine or blood stream after a routine traffic stop means absolutely nothing.

[duhneece]

6. Unlikely 'probably' I agree, but

I can get so pissed off so easily drinking too much caffeine, so I'd still like to know if men with their regular testosterone could take that caffeine to a level that I, a female, is unlikely too. Men with no steroid use commit more domestic violence and murder, so I think caffeine could provoke more rage with more caffeine than what happens with women...just saying I'd like more research.
I agree that one can get used to meds that initially could cause serious accidents. I caught myself driving 'drunk' but no booze, just getting used to Neurontin and Trileptal. Now, I never feel drunk and I take even more of those meds than I first used when I drove 'drunk'...wrong word, I know, but that is exactly how it felt.
I am a medical marijuana patient and I am super happy to see these results!
I just want more research into all meds & substances that could interfere with driving safety.

[Warpy]

7. I've been on narcs for over 20 years

so I know how you feel. I do drive on them because I know what they do to me (not much besides relieve the pain enough for me to function). I wouldn't suggest anyone taking them for the first time get behind the wheel of a car for a couple of weeks, at least.

I'm really happy about this ruling. People who run into trouble on cannabis usually do so because they've also been drinking and/or drugging. While people who are heavily stoned are going to have slowed reaction times, they're also going to be highly unmotivated to drive, at all. When they do drive, you can always spot them because they're crawling along in second gear on back roads. Stoners overcompensate.

[tblue37]

2. K&R. nt

[brewens]

3. Why I am not surprised. I've passed field sobriety tests twice when I was stoned to the bone!

If those tests mean anything, that should tell you that I was pretty much okay to drive. At least as far as having control of my motor skills. I can't say it wouldn't be possible to "space out" a stop sign or lose control because the Doritos bag got stuck on my hand, but it never happened to me.

One time for sure the cops knew I was baked and were pissed that they couldn't get me. Even if they had claimed to smell weed and used that as an excuse to search, I didn't have any on me! That probably added to the cops anger, my attitude, knowing they couldn't do shit about it. That was late at night and I had a headlight out. I got off without even a ticket.

Now I understand that if they really suspect drugs, they can haul you in and have a doctor try and prove their case with a blood test and everything. We can thank the meth freaks for that one I think. They escalated a lot of the bullshit where the war on drugs is concerned.

[Logical]

9. Interesting info. Thanks for posting. nt

[Amishman]

8. and this will be quickly swept under the rug

The drug war is too profitable

[Enrique]

10. i am very surprised by this

study or no study, I personally would never drive high, but i'm all for research.

[bigwillq]

11. K and R (nt)