With Support For Marijuana, Concern Over Driving High Grows

[bobandtorey]

The Lodo Wellness Center in Denver has been selling medical marijuana for

several years. But since Jan. 1, when marijuana in Colorado officially moved from

underground to behind-the-counter, they've also been selling legal, recreational pot.

 

A majority of Americans now say they support full legalization, and the trend is spreading: Legal weed is coming soon to Washington state.

 

Meanwhile, the public health community is warning of a potential safety problem:

more people driving while stoned. But health officials and law enforcement don't

yet have the data or tools to address the concern.

Public Perception

Inside the Lodo Wellness Center, shoppers don't seem particularly worried about

getting behind the wheel with pot in their systems.

*Self-reported use of marijuana on 20 or more days in the past month.

2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

"You could smoke about an ounce and still have your motor skills," says 39-year-

old Dante Cox. "When it comes to one shot of alcohol, all that goes out of the

window."

Like Cox, several others say it's OK to smoke before driving, and definitely safer

than drinking and driving.

For advocates of traffic safety, their words are concerning.

 

"I think this is the next big issue in highway safety," says Jonathan Adkins,

executive director of the Governor's Highway Safety Association. He tells NPR's

Arun Rath that there's a prevalent feeling in American culture that marijuana is no

big deal.

"Well, it is a big deal if you use it and then get behind the wheel," he says. "We

need to have the same cultural intolerance for marijuana use behind the wheel as we do with alcohol."

 

Alcohol-related crashes still kill around 10,000 people a year, and research

clearly shows how drinking alcohol affects driving. The impact of marijuana is

much less clear.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has done extensive research on marijuana's

effect on driving ability. The results, says senior investigator Marilyn Huestis,

should give smokers pause.

"We have so many processes in our brain that help us to do a complex behavior of

driving, and under the effects of marijuana, we just don't perform as well," she says.

Assessing Crash Risk

After using marijuana, Huestis says, people generally have more trouble staying in

lanes, they struggle to do multiple tasks at once, and there's a real problem

maintaining concentration on long, monotonous drives.

But does that translate into more accidents? Studies that have looked at the crash

risk associated with marijuana have produced mixed results, says Anne McCartt,

senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

"Not only do we not have consensus on the risk associated with the presence of

marijuana, we don't have information on the crash risk for different amounts of

marijuana," McCartt says. "We don't even have good information on how many

 

drivers involved in fatal crashes test positive for marijuana. So there's a lot we don't know."

McCartt says that the evidence so far suggests that there is a stronger effect of

alcohol on crash risk than of marijuana, and that there is simply a larger body of

research on the strong association between blood-alcohol concentrations and crash risk.

 

"We've used that science, for example, to enact in all 50 states laws that make it

illegal to drive with [blood alcohol contents] of .08 percent or higher," she says.

"We don't have comparable information on marijuana."

As marijuana use becomes more accepted in the U.S., McCartt says the public

safety issue is concerning. And as a researcher, she says it is frustrating not to

have the science needed at this point to craft effective, enforceable laws for drugs,

including marijuana.

 

Testing For Marijuana

Even with laws establishing a specific limit, police might not have a way to enforce

them. For alcohol, police around the country carry hand-held breathalyzers. But

coming up with a similar test for marijuana is not quite as easy.

 

For one, the alcohol content of, say, a Budweiser is on the label. But it's much

more difficult to know the potency of a wide variety of marijuana products.

Another complication is marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient: THC. It can

linger in the body long after the initial high.

"THC is a molecule that really loves human fat, and when you ingest it, it sticks in

the fat, and then it slowly seeps out over the course of a week or a month if you

are a heavy user," says Timothy Fong, an addiction psychiatrist at the University of

California, Los Angeles.

The most reliable test for THC is the blood test. A few states, like Washington and

Colorado, have even established a kind of legal limit of marijuana in the blood: five

nanograms of THC per milliliter.

 

But performing that test often requires that police drive a suspect to a hospital. And

Fong says it's tough to interpret exactly what those tests mean for driving ability.

 

"Most of the marijuana testing has been done in human laboratories, and there you

get a wide variety [of reactions]," he says. "So if you take 100 people and have the

same blood level of marijuana, you'll have 100 different reactions."

 

 

California, the first state to legalize medical marijuana, recently conducted a

roadside study at night, finding around 7 percent of drivers had marijuana in their systems.

 

 

 

 

Los Angeles is now at the forefront of law enforcement's response. The city has a federal grant to try out a new roadside drug test: oral swabs. Mike Feuer, the city

 

attorney of Los Angeles, calls the technology "the wave of the future."

"This is a technique under which, in the field, at the time of the traffic stop, an

officer can test the saliva of the driver and get an immediate result, as to whether

there are drugs present in his or her system," Feuer says.

Feuer says the admissibility in court of the swabbing hasn't been tested in

California, but is likely to be tested sometime in the coming months or perhaps

next year. And he says legislation regarding the swabs could be down the road as

well.

The goal of all of this, Feuer says, is to assure that there is an effective means of

determining whether a driver is impaired, not just for prosecution, but also to

prevent people from driving under the influence in the first place.

"The more commonly known it is that we have a quick and effective technique for

determining that, the more I hope people are deterred from getting behind the

wheel with drugs or alcohol in their system," he says.

Judgment Vs. Numbers

Advocates in favor of marijuana legalization say they agree that people should

know their limits and should not drive while impaired. But they're concerned that

police officers will substitute this new technology — and an "arbitrary" legal limit —

for their own judgment.

"I think that people want to have a clear-cut, black and white solution," says Mason

Tvert, the communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-

legalization group. "They want a specific number that we can use to just say that

 

this person is impaired or not. Unfortunately, it's a little more of a gray area than

that."

Tvert says simply having a number attached to "impairment" could actually result in

people who are perfectly sober being arrested and charged. He suggests the law

enforcement official's judgment should also come into play.

A bigger concern for Tvert is not the number of new pot smokers getting behind

the wheel, but "excessive and overzealous reporting" on the subject. He does

agree, however, that driving under the influence of marijuana is something that

needs to be addressed and discouraged.

"But we allow adults to use alcohol responsibly and we punish adults if they use it

irresponsibly, and that includes driving while drunk," he says. "We should be doing

the same thing with marijuana."

It's in that area that Tvert and Los Angeles city attorney Mike Feuer share some

common ground.

"I'm optimistic that as the debate around legalization of marijuana continues in this

country, there will be no debate ... around the notion that we should be educating

the public about the fact that driving while impaired could lead another family to

suffer a loss from which they can never recover," Feuer says.

That legalization debate is continuing this year: It's likely that marijuana initiatives

will be on the ballot in Alaska and Oregon. As the momentum increases for

marijuana legalization, police and lawmakers say they have to respond, even with

so much still unknown.

 

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/23/280310526/with-support-for-marijuana-concern-over-driving-high-grows

[Norby]

Yep, people just started driving stoned last year.  No data?  If driving while high was anywhere near a concern there would've been people up in arms about it a long time ago, right around when we cracked down on DWI on alcohol.  Funny how it only becomes a concern when it's becoming legal.  Why aren't they up in arms about driving on cocaine or heroin or meth?  I guess they aren't a concern because they aren't legal.  Driving on a drug only becomes a problem when it's legal and not "prescribed" but recommended?  I just don't see the logic.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Norby

[GregS]

No we do not need to have the same cultural intolerance for marijuana use behind the wheel as we do with alcohol. It is notable that the government is not  about to conduct research regarding impairment. Blood concentration per se results are not adequate to determine impairment. Period. Impairment is observable. There are simple tests that can be observed. What is necessary is that the government perform research to identify that. It is my take that they know that to be a fool's errand and cannot expect to find any real means to test for it that is objective and fair because it is subjective and to do otherwise is unfair.
 

I remember the first time I got high. Having been out with friends, stoned to the bone, I arrived home only to be told that my aunt and mother were taking me to a family friend's to see about a summer job. I got lost driving across Bay City's Third Street bridge, forgetting where we were. Not only did I get us there well and safely, but I got the job. No one was the wiser. That is not the only job interview that went extremely well, and unarguably better than others where I was not under the influence. If anything it is not unfair to say that my communication skills become more UNimpaired. The worst that happens is that I miss a turn or an exit, so I laugh it off. That does NOT cause a road hazard. I'm betting many here know precisely what I am talking about. I've blazed behind the wheel to and from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. My roaches line the highways of several states. There have been many times that people who are on the phone or texting have damm near run me off the road, and I have been entirely aware to navigate out of a tight spot. More relaxed behind the wheel, I give other drivers more room, not just as a precaution, but because it just is not necessary to crowd them. I am more apt to back away from pockets of heavy traffic. Crowding the speed limit loses its urgency. I will get to my destination just fine and in good time. Situational awareness of immediate traffic and road conditions is enhanced, just as is my appreciation for Cheetos and Mountain Dew and good music. There is less harm than in having an animated conversation with a passenger, and certainly less than a phone conversation.

 

The government is obligated to perform research not just into blood levels, but to include impairment and fitness to drive. The MSC gets it. Anything less is a sham.

Edited February 24, 2014 by GregS

[knucklehead bob]

Don't forget the "anecdotal" evedence such as fewer fatalities .

 

3. Traffic fatalities fell by more than 20% nationwide during the study period, even as “medical marijuana sales expanded.” Between enactment of its medical marijuana law in 1996 and 2010, California saw a 31% drop in traffic fatalities. The number of traffic fatalities also fell in Hawaii and Rhode Island after they legalized medical marijuana—by 14% and 21%, respectively.

 

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/02/17/if-medical-marijuana-laws-cause-a-surge-in-drugged-driving-deaths-why-are-fatalities-falling/

[pergamum362]

Sadly, im one of those people who cant drive while im stoned, although its not because im physically impaired like with alchohol, its more mental...kinda like a long anxiety attack..but this is just me.

[Norby]

I'm not good(comfortable) in heavy traffic while high.  That is why i purposefully take back roads or roads less traveled or plan my driving around the lowest traffic times.

 

  My wife who doesn't smoke, hates when I drive.  Just yesterday we went to Lansing for V-day sushi(I even put off hallmark holidays to go out to dinner at less busy times).  She remarked that this place was farther than the last place although we got there in 39 minutes and to the other place in 45+.  I told her that this place took shorter to get to how could it be farther.  She reminded me that I drove to the last place and I avg. the speed limit to 5 under here(I drive over in Ny since it's 55 on the same type of roads) and she drives appr. 5 over(which I don't like but..) so you had to add 10 minutes to her drive time for an hour to match mine.  She was right.

 

I think she has got 1 speeding ticket since we've been together and 2 warnings(10 years) and I've got a loud muffler ticket and a light out ticket(happened that day). Last time I got a speeding ticket was 1997 in Missouri for 5 over because I was a longhair working on a botany project in logging country(ellington) and the cop wanted to talk to me about if people would loose their jobs over this study. 

[GregS]

Don't forget the "anecdotal" evedence such as fewer fatalities .

 

3. Traffic fatalities fell by more than 20% nationwide during the study period, even as “medical marijuana sales expanded.” Between enactment of its medical marijuana law in 1996 and 2010, California saw a 31% drop in traffic fatalities. The number of traffic fatalities also fell in Hawaii and Rhode Island after they legalized medical marijuana—by 14% and 21%, respectively.

 

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/02/17/if-medical-marijuana-laws-cause-a-surge-in-drugged-driving-deaths-why-are-fatalities-falling/

Nothing anecdotal about that. Those are hard numbers.

[Wild Bill]

 

 

"We need to have the same cultural intolerance for marijuana use behind the wheel as we do with alcohol."

 

So by that logic all drugs are the same.

Do we also need the same cultural intolerance for OTC/prescription drugs, caffeine and nicotine?

 

 

"Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." - H. L. Mencken

[bobandtorey]

So by that logic all drugs are the same.

Do we also need the same cultural intolerance for OTC/prescription drugs, caffeine and nicotine?

 

 

"Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." - H. L. Mencken

Sure and lets start from the top with Caffeine  and start  drug testing the people in charge up inn Lansing 

[t-pain]

if they ever study it they will probably find that marijuana does not affect the parts of the brain that controls driving as much as other substances or distractions...

[Wild Bill]

The worst thing I ever did while driving high was in my senior year of high school. I pulled up behind a line of cars waiting to turn right onto a busy street.

 

It took me several minutes to notice that all the other cars were not waiting to turn right but were, in fact, parked.

[AmishRnot4ganja]

The worst thing I ever did while driving high was in my senior year of high school. I pulled up behind a line of cars waiting to turn right onto a busy street.

 

It took me several minutes to notice that all the other cars were not waiting to turn right but were, in fact, parked.

Ok. That is laugh out loud funny because I can totally relate. It also points out a well known fact about marijuana: being stoned increases a person's concern about being careful to the point of being overly careful.

[bobandtorey]

 

i just had too

Edited February 25, 2014 by bobandtorey

[t-pain]

interesting poll out of ohio, includes questions about concerns of stoned drivers

 

 

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-and-centers/polling-institute/ohio/release-detail?ReleaseID=2011

[bobandtorey]

Los Angeles is now at the forefront of law enforcement's response.

The city has a federal grant to try out a new roadside drug test: oral swabs. City Attorney Mike Feuer calls the technology "the wave of the future."

"This is a technique under which, in the field, at the time of the traffic stop, an

officer can test the saliva of the driver and get an immediate result as to whether

there are drugs present in his or her system," Feuer says.

Feuer says the admissibility in court of the swabbing hasn't been tested in

California but is likely to be tested in the coming months or next year. Legislation

regarding the swabs could be down the road as well, he says.

[trichcycler]

. Fortunately I only drive early mornings for deliveries/errands....... I can wait till I return to home base to begin my regimen

[bobandtorey]

 Unfortunately Leo also drives in the AM and the PM if it was me i would make sure i had my Card/Cards at the ready if asked to show them but i think things are a lot better today so i wouldn't worry about driving around ( i'am legal )

[trichcycler]

you've misunderstood bobntory, mornings don't protect me from a pull over. I don't medicate those days until I return home.