Smiley?
Posted on 04/11/2006 9:28:21 AM PDT by davesdude
Marijuana Not a Factor in Driving Accidents
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March 29, 1999
The safety hazards of smoking marijuana and driving are overrated, says U of T researcher Alison Smiley.
Recent research into impairment and traffic accident reports from several countries shows that marijuana taken alone in moderate amounts does not significantly increase a driver's risk of causing an accident -- unlike alcohol, says Smiley, an adjunct professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering . While smoking marijuana does impair driving ability, it does not share alcohol's effect on judgment. Drivers on marijuana remain aware of their impairment, prompting them to slow down and drive more cautiously to compensate, she says.
"Both substances impair performance," Smiley says. "However, the more cautious behaviour of subjects who received marijuana decreases the drug's impact on performance. Their behaviour is more appropriate to their impairment, whereas subjects who received alcohol tend to drive in a more risky manner."
Smiley, who has studied transportation safety for over 25 years, drew her results from a "metanalysis" of existing research into the effects of marijuana on driving ability, combined with traffic accident statistics in the United States and Australia. Previous studies showing stronger effects often combined "fairly hefty doses" by researchers with driving immediately after consumption, likely exaggerating the drug's effects, she believes.
While Smiley does not advocate legalizing the drug, she says her results should be considered by those debating mandatory drug tests for users of transportation equipment such as truck or train drivers, or the decriminalization of marijuana for medical use. "There's an assumption that because marijuana is illegal, it must increase the risk of an accident. We should try to just stick to the facts."
Smiley presented her findings at a symposium of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Florida in February. Her paper was also published in Health Effects of Cannabis, a publication of Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, in March.
ping
ping
Smiley????
I've read a study that said marijuana doubles the risk, while alcohol is ten times the risk, which I would assume is dosage dependent. A person shouldn't be doing either while driving.
Smiley?
it is sad you use such stereotype such as Potheads...and it is sad you didn't read the article!
no! sean penn actually!
My cousin knew a guy who smoked pot to ease the anxiety of his driving test.... shortly into it he started driving on the wrong side of the road.
One of the most tragic fatal accidents I read about was a teenage girl in Miami who mowed down another teenage girl on the sidewalk while she was high on both. Comparing one to the other is ridiculous, because idiots usually do both, and alcohol is criminalized while driving.
She makes an earlier statement that pot, taken in MODERATION, doesn't have much risk "because pot smokers are more careful".
Then the excerpted statement indicates that we might not want to test for pot in accident cases (how could one assume that pot might have been used, but only in moderation?), even in public transportation cases. It's idiotic - no matter how "careful" one is, impaired is impaired.
smiling and cross eyed!
You are correct. I did a piece, a long time ago, for a radio network on a guy named Robert Randall in DC. You may recall him. He was the first person in the US to get a prescription for Marijuana use for his glaucoma(as I recall). Remarkable story. He showed me his cookie tin full of government rolled joints from a government owned dope plot in Mississippi. Helluva guy. Good story, too.
Thanks for the note.
unfortunately, you forgot the statistics on how much people dies in a alcool involved accident...not everyone does smoke on the intent of smoking high...you are just reporting what you heard on television...A university study wouldn't be so biaised with such a stereotype of alcool = impaired like you said...their goal is not to say that people who uses pot are harmless! you are being speculative...
and your second point is only a personnal opinion biaised what you think you already know about pot... did rosa park was so "judgement-impaired" when she sat at the front of the bus and broke the law??
laws were made, but some under false intention, or without any study...
But "having the munchies" is a really big factor...
"shiny thing" ??? what are you talking about?
So, high is a binary thing, you're either high or not, but you see alcohol use as a matter of degree, as in you can drink but not be drunk.
That's simply not the case. Take a few hits, catch a minor buzz, smoke 12 bong hits and, yes, you're high. Have a drink or 2, catch a minor buzz. Drink 12 drinks, drunk you are. It's the same for weed and booze. There are degrees for each.
If you get behind the wheel after a few drinks, the chances are you are impaired. It doesn't take much to blow .04, and then you're arrested for DUI.
But please, enjoy your binary planet.
do you have any record of that! i didn't find anything about that...
I don't keep records. It was a news item in Alaska and a talk radio topic afterwards. Happened last summer if I recall. It is a dangerous and heavily-travelled road, got to be sharp there. Marijuana was the only factor mentioned.
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