Posted on 11/29/2011 2:55:05 PM PST by Pharmboy
Leads to lower consumption of alcohol
DENVER (Nov. 29, 2011) – A groundbreaking new study shows that laws legalizing medical marijuana have resulted in a nearly nine percent drop in traffic deaths and a five percent reduction in beer sales.
"Our research suggests that the legalization of medical marijuana reduces traffic fatalities through reducing alcohol consumption by young adults," said Daniel Rees, professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver who co-authored the study with D. Mark Anderson, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University.
The researchers collected data from a variety of sources including the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
The study is the first to examine the relationship between the legalization of medical marijuana and traffic deaths.
"We were astounded by how little is known about the effects of legalizing medical marijuana," Rees said. "We looked into traffic fatalities because there is good data, and the data allow us to test whether alcohol was a factor."
Anderson noted that traffic deaths are significant from a policy standpoint.
"Traffic fatalities are an important outcome from a policy perspective because they represent the leading cause of death among Americans ages five to 34," he said.
The economists analyzed traffic fatalities nationwide, including the 13 states that legalized medical marijuana between 1990 and 2009. In those states, they found evidence that alcohol consumption by 20- through 29-year-olds went down, resulting in fewer deaths on the road.
The economists noted that simulator studies conducted by previous researchers suggest that drivers under the influence of alcohol tend to underestimate how badly their skills are impaired. They drive faster and take more risks. In contrast, these studies show that drivers under the influence of marijuana tend to avoid risks. However, Rees and Anderson cautioned that legalization of medical marijuana may result in fewer traffic deaths because it's typically used in private, while alcohol is often consumed at bars and restaurants.
"I think this is a very timely study given all the medical marijuana laws being passed or under consideration," Anderson said. "These policies have not been research-based thus far and our research shows some of the social effects of these laws. Our results suggest a direct link between marijuana and alcohol consumption."
The study also examined marijuana use in three states that legalized medical marijuana in the mid-2000s, Montana, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Marijuana use by adults increased after legalization in Montana and Rhode Island, but not in Vermont. There was no evidence that marijuana use by minors increased.
Opponents of medical marijuana believe that legalization leads to increased use of marijuana by minors.
According to Rees and Anderson, the majority of registered medical marijuana patients in Arizona and Colorado are male. In Arizona, 75 percent of registered patients are male; in Colorado, 68 percent are male. Many are under the age of 40. For instance, 48 percent of registered patients in Montana are under 40.
"Although we make no policy recommendations, it certainly appears as though medical marijuana laws are making our highways safer," Rees said.
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The study is entitled, "Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities, and Alcohol Consumption." It can be found at: http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/personnel/photos/index_html?key=4915
The University of Colorado Denver offers more than 120 degrees and programs in 13 schools and colleges and serves more than 28,000 students. CU Denver is located on the Denver Campus and the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo.
Yup, just legalize it..aw jeeeez..
The whole political scam is to culture a scheme to extract tax money from pot sales.
The federal government must be in on the scam because the HHS has had a patent on it since 2003.
Consider U.S. patent #6,630,507, entitled Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. Filed in 2001, this patent, which was subsequently granted in 2003, gives us an insight into the canny duplicity that has characterized U.S. government policy toward marijuana. In the patent, assigned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the applicants state the following: "Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia."
(See: Patent on Pot)
They (US HHS) patented it in 2003. (#6,630,507)
Today, research and possession of privately grown plants is 100% federally illegal. No drug maker can touch it. They have synthesized similar compounds for drugs such as Marinol and Sativex but they are still different from what the plant makes. Read Dr Alex Shulgin’s paper on synthetic cannabinoids and why the plant is medically far superior to anything man made. Why don't these medical MJ stores sell extractions? The very high-end stores actually do but the market price of MJ is still too high due to prohibition. The price in stores is still pegged to the illegal price to reduce resales. For instance, a cancer patient consuming extract to keep their weight up would easily need $200-400 worth of extract each day. Insurance won't pay for it. By smoking instead, it cuts down the price of the required active dose to $20-40 per day.
Keeping it illegal today props up many huge entrenched industries. Prohibition keeps this weed worth its weight in $20 bills! If legal, it's price would be close to basil. Right now, the amount of money the government can fine or seize at will is far greater than if they ever legally taxed it.
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¹ http://www.thecrimereport.org/archive/14-billion-in-annual-us-drug-purchases-via-mexico-drug-czar
² http://www.bnamericas.com/news/oilandgas/pemex-export-revenues-hit-us359bn-in-2010-up-40
I've waited for a stop sign to turn green, while perfectly sober.
Are you still waiting there?
And can’t remember where they left their car keys.
Lol, no.
Soon after my son said, "Well, are you ever going to go?" I realized that the sign wasn't likely to turn green, and I went.
Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally on our planet, serves a thousand different functions, all of them positive. To make marijuana against the law is like saying that God made a mistake. Like on the seventh day God looked down, “There it is. My Creation; perfect and holy in all ways. Now I can rest. [Gives shocked expression] Oh, my, Me! I left f-in’ pot everywhere. I should never have smoked that joint on the third day. Hehe, that was the day I created opossums. If I leave pot everywhere that’s gonna give people the impression they’re supposed to…use it. Now I have to create Republicans.”
The ineffective War on Drugs is the price the Left pays for Scalia’s support of the New Deal Commerce clause that make all federal regulation of commerce “legal”. It all stands together or falls together. So far, the Religious Right is content with this deal with the Devil after losing with alcohol and knowing they can’t get another Prohibition Amendment.
What medical condition requires 20 to 29 year-olds to be high on marijuana all the time?
Who said anything about being high all the time?
Yeah, and the Super Bowl broadcasts cause an increase in wife-beating.
And the use of Aquanet creates a hole in the ozone layer.
Breast implants cause hundreds of illnesses.
Aluminum cookware causes Alzheimers.
Cell phones cause brain cancer.
And (fill in the blank gas or soot) from human activities causes climate change and extinction of whole taxa, as well as melting both polar icecaps.
Thanks Pharmboy.
Wait...does this mean I have to stop using Aquanet?
(sarcasm on) and absolutly nothing happens to those 20-29 year olds. absolutly, completly, nothing changes in their lives. When they are 60, if they live that long, they will still be in the same state of nothing. (sarcasm off)
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