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 ...
Or, marijuana is not involved in 88% of fatal dui crashes. Feel better now?
And this little tidbit:
“But if the driver is under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana, their risk increased to 24 times that of a sober person.”
“This study shows an alarming increase in driving under the influence of drugs, and, in particular, it shows an increase in driving under the influence of both alcohol and drugs,”
Sounds to me that they tested for the presence of marijuana, and even if the driver was high on booze and pot, put it down as a marijuana-related death.
Individual rights without individual responsibility.
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....
Let’s ban alcohol too, by the same “reasoning”.
/s
scuse me while I kiss the sky. . .
The point is that we are always told it is harmless by the MSM and even the govt. It is not harmless.
I’m sure weed doesn’t slow down your reaction time or cause you to not pay attention. Oh wait, it does.
Further, pot is fat-soluble and is detectable in the blood for months when using mass-spectroscopy. There is no clear blood-pot-level for impairment as there is with ethanol. So the odds of finding some level of pot despite the length of time since used is greater than for similar ethanol use.
I'd rather be on a drug-free highway but if I had my choice I would pick the slow-driving potheads than the reckless boozehounds.
But...but...stoned drivers don’t blow past stop signs.
They sit there quietly & until they turn green.
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.
Yeah,I can’t get through the day without some major news outlet proclaiming that a) pot is harmless, and b) it’s just fine to get high and drive.
Ask a tobacco smoker if he wants to trade smoking in public and around children for the chance to be arrested and put in jail.
Nothing is harmless.
And somehow our highways keep getting safer and safer => http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx
RE: “Li added that police do not have a test as accurate as the Breathalyzer to check a driver’s marijuana intoxication level.”
Maybe that sentence should start this news report?
If you smoke a lot of marijuana, your drug test is going to show a lot of THC (or whatever they measure) when you are completely straight.
Also, if you smoke a lot, even the most potent weed available, your “peak” intoxication is over in 30 minutes at most, and you are almost completely straight in 60 minutes.
But, the best advice still applies.....
If you are even a little bit high, on anything, don’t drive a car!
Those who give up freedom for security are bound to be slaves.
I live and work near Seattle and could swear I’m seeing a lot more buzzed driving lately.
This is like the “All pit bulls should be killed” thread.
Oh...woooow...bummer, man.
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