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Study: Fatal Car Crashes Involving Marijuana Have Tripled (Harmless????)
seattle.cbslocal.com ^

Posted on 02/07/2014 3:47:32 AM PST by Red in Blue PA

Currently, one of nine drivers involved in fatal crashes would test positive for marijuana,” Dr. Guohua Li, director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention at Columbia, and co-author of the study told HealthDay News.

The researchers found that drugs played an increasing role in fatal traffic accidents. Drugged driving accounted for more than 28 percent of traffic deaths in 2010, which is 16 percent more than it was in 1999.

The researchers also found that marijuana was the main drug involved in the increase. It contributed to 12 percent of fatal crashes, compared to only 4 percent in 1999

If a driver is under the influence of alcohol, their risk of a fatal crash is 13 times higher than the risk of the driver who is not under the influence of alcohol,” Li said. But if the driver is under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana, their risk increased to 24 times that of a sober person.

(Excerpt) Read more at seattle.cbslocal.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: again; letsdoprohibition; marijuana; nodrinknosmoke
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To: Red in Blue PA
Li added that police do not have a test as accurate as the Breathalyzer to check a driver’s marijuana intoxication level.

Yes there is. Just ask a few questions of the driver.

Q. Are you happy I pulled you over?

A. (Giggling) "Oh yes, officer!" = Marijuana use.

A. (Stern look)Of course not! = Questionable about use.

Q. Do you like to pay high taxes for everything?

A. (Giggling) "Yes, yes, yes! YOU sure are handsome copper!" = Marijuana use.

A. Hell no! = Questionable about use.

Etc.

21 posted on 02/07/2014 4:45:21 AM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: Wolfie

Not to mention they fail to explain how any marihuana related death was possible in 2010 since it was illegal at the time. Don’t they know prohibition works? /sarc

But in all seriousness this is a classic example where the old phrase comes to mind, “there are lies, there are damned lies, then there are statistics.”

I have been a prosecutor and defense attorney for nearly 8 years and I can say without a doubt alcohol is way more dangerous to drive on than marijuana.

There are plenty of people safely driving around while taking hydrocodone or oxycodone because their tolerance prevents the impairment that might otherwise result. Marijuana is not much different.

Also, these statistics are pretty useless and until they show a direct connection between the fatality and the alleged impairment. For instance, if a guy smokes weed and is driving down the street and a little old lady (sober as a priest) runs a stop light resulting in both of their deaths then is it properly included as a “marihuana related death”? I don’t think so.

Lots of agendas going on here.
Most of it has to do with all the government jobs that are attached to the endless losing WOD.


22 posted on 02/07/2014 4:46:47 AM PST by Clump ( the tree of liberty is withering like a stricken fig tree)
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To: Red in Blue PA
I love these threads.

 photo 5ed0r9_zpsa0822eb9.gif

23 posted on 02/07/2014 4:51:48 AM PST by Pan_Yan (Who told you that you were naked? Genesis 3:11)
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To: Red in Blue PA

The states that are pushing “medical” marijuana are morally responsible for these crashes.


24 posted on 02/07/2014 4:59:55 AM PST by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible traitors. Complicit in the destruction of our country.)
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To: Red in Blue PA

I wonder how many Freeps here think the government has no authority to enforce healthcare yet think it’s perfectly acceptable for the government to prohibit the use of recreational drugs?

I wonder if any of you even bother to review their own thoughts periodically and adjust for hypocritical positions?


25 posted on 02/07/2014 5:00:00 AM PST by Usagi_yo
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To: I want the USA back
The states that are pushing “medical” marijuana are morally responsible for these crashes.

Study shows medical marijuana laws reduce traffic deaths (FR thread)

26 posted on 02/07/2014 5:09:48 AM PST by Ken H (What happens on the internet, stays on the internet.)
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To: Red in Blue PA

I drove on pot once over 40 years ago; the time/space distortion from pot was so scary I haven’t done it since and would never attempt it again.


27 posted on 02/07/2014 5:16:53 AM PST by NRA1995 (I'd rather be a living "gun culture" member than a dead anti-gun candy-ass.)
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To: Clump

Agreed on all points.

But the real thrust is this: Nobody is saying it should be legal to get high and drive.


28 posted on 02/07/2014 5:21:16 AM PST by Wolfie
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To: Usagi_yo

Get stoned, get high, do what ever..

Just stay off the roads and out of cars.

Ya, I don’t care if you smoke, shoot up or what ever you want to get high.

Just don’t put my life at risk while you are doing it.


29 posted on 02/07/2014 5:48:53 AM PST by cableguymn (It's time for a second political party.)
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To: Red in Blue PA

Statistically speaking, if the data is correct, we can confidently conclude:

1. Marijuana doesn’t confer immunity to fatal accidents.

2. Either more people are smoking and driving than in 1999, or they’re measuring or reporting differently.

3. If there actually were a major increase in stoned motoring, the lack of any adverse trend in the overall fatality rate suggests that stoned motoring isn’t a big risk-enhancer.


30 posted on 02/07/2014 5:53:33 AM PST by Atlas Sneezed ("Income Inequality?" Let's start with Washington DC vs. the rest of the nation!)
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To: corkoman

Statistics for Dummies: note the word “involved” - in a multiple car accident it means all regardless of who caused the accident.


Indeed. It also include accidents where a passenger is stoned, even if the driver was sober. It even includes stoned (or drunk) pedestrians who get mowed down by a sober driver while trying to cross a highway.


31 posted on 02/07/2014 5:55:27 AM PST by Atlas Sneezed ("Income Inequality?" Let's start with Washington DC vs. the rest of the nation!)
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To: txrefugee

The cancer rate will go up in marijuana states. Then the regulators will pass lows restricting where it can be smoked, banning smoking around children, and all the other laws that have been passed on tobacco use.


I wasn’t aware the public pot smoking was an issue.


32 posted on 02/07/2014 5:56:15 AM PST by Atlas Sneezed ("Income Inequality?" Let's start with Washington DC vs. the rest of the nation!)
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To: Atlas Sneezed

It’s named “Driving While Impaired” for a good reason. It doesn’t say driving due to use of marijuana or driving due to alcohol consumption or driving after sniffing drain-o.


33 posted on 02/07/2014 5:58:24 AM PST by DaveA37
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To: zeestephen

But, the best advice still applies.....

If you are even a little bit high, on anything, don’t drive a car!


What if you are a little high, but still far safer than a sober octogenarian, or teen, or tired driver who hasn’t slept in 18 hours, or someone talking on the phone, or just distracted with work or personal issues.

Is your advice the same for them?


34 posted on 02/07/2014 6:10:27 AM PST by Atlas Sneezed ("Income Inequality?" Let's start with Washington DC vs. the rest of the nation!)
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To: NRA1995

I drove on pot once over 40 years ago; the time/space distortion from pot was so scary I haven’t done it since and would never attempt it again.


My experience is similar (I was a passenger). It’s the exact opposite of the sense of invulnerability that alcohol gives.


35 posted on 02/07/2014 6:12:48 AM PST by Atlas Sneezed ("Income Inequality?" Let's start with Washington DC vs. the rest of the nation!)
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To: freebilly

The problem with this study is that cannabinols can be detected in the blood up to 30 days after use. The study is more alarmist than anything else....
***********************************
Exactly right , the truth is that with simple blood alcohol testing you KNOW if the person has recently been drinking. With marijuana that person could have been perfectly sober for more than a month.. This alarmist report simply reflects the percentage of adults that use the drug but it proves nothing.


36 posted on 02/07/2014 6:14:19 AM PST by Neidermeyer (I used to be disgusted , now I try to be amused.)
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To: Red in Blue PA

“You may see me tonight with an illegal smile”


37 posted on 02/07/2014 6:17:59 AM PST by DeaconRed (I hate BO. I am not a racist I hate Biden too.)
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To: Red in Blue PA

According to this bullshit a guy in the back seat who smoked a joint 45 days ago would count as “a fatal car crash involving marijuana.”


38 posted on 02/07/2014 7:19:24 AM PST by AAABEST (Et lux in tenebris lucet: et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt)
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To: cableguymn

+1


39 posted on 02/07/2014 8:56:59 AM PST by EnigmaticAnomaly ("Nothing does more damage to the left than an honest election.")
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To: cableguymn

Okay, don’t text and drive and only use hands free dialing, and I’ll continue to only get high, curled up in flannel bed roll next to my oversized fireplace watching ‘Family guy’ with my Basset Hound.


40 posted on 02/07/2014 9:00:12 AM PST by Usagi_yo
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