Medical Marijuana Use Reduces Traffic Deaths May 2006 Location: Higher Than You Posts

[ShroomDr]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/medical-marijuana-traffic-deaths_n_1121437.html

A good deal of time, money, and energy has been spent on the issue of drinking and driving. For all the hype surrounding medical marijuana these days, however, not only is anti-driving advocacy weak -- data on the effects of marijuana and traffic deaths is sparse as well. CU Denver economics professor Daniel Rees and Montana State University assistant economics professor D. Mark Anderson hope to change that.

In a recently released study, the duo analyzed state-level data for correlations between medical marijuana laws and a variety of outcomes. An abstract details some of their more surprising findings:

Legalization of medical marijuana is associated with increased use of marijuana among adults, but not among minors. In addition, legalization is associated with a nearly 9 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, most likely to due to its impact on alcohol consumption. Our estimates provide strong evidence that marijuana and alcohol are substitutes.

The authors accounted for variables including seat-belt usage, miles driven, and changes in traffic laws, though don't explicitly draw a 1-to-1 correlation between marijuana usage and decreased traffic fatalities. They further acknowledge "cannabis use impairs driving-related functions such as distance perception, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination," though drivers "under the influence of marijuana reduce their velocity, avoid risky maneuvers, and increase their 'following distances.'"

The report concludes that marijuana legalization is associated with a 12-percent drop in alcohol-related fatal crashes, and a 19-percent decrease in the fatality rate for people in their 20s. Despite the decrease in both rates, the study emphasizes it is not necessarily safer to drive under the influence of marijuana than alcohol -- just that medical-marijuana usage alters the likelihood of driving.

According to the Denver Post, the study awaits a peer-review.

A drunk will run a stop sign.
A pot head will wait for it to change.

 

[supermanlives]

i drive better stoned. buzzed i drive slow. sober like a bat out of hell constantly swearing and flippin the bird. stoned all calm no worries and no swearing.

 

[trichrider]

i can't remember driving straight, you mean there's a difference?

all i know is drinking reduces perceived risk, while smoking attentuates possibilities of consequences...uh, i drive far ahead of myself...if that makes sense.

i feel like a poster child for driving stoned.

 

[windrunner1]

So nice to know I'm not the only one. I always torch up before a long trip to relax. Without it, I'd be road ragin' like a MoFo cuz there are some seriously stupid people out there.

 

[GL_Guerilla]

Driving stoned is fun until I realize I forgot where I was going and miss turns or take stupid routes. Its still fun though.

 

[whadeezlrg]

they still give you a dui for herb in cali...med or not...trust me.

 

[SKUNK420]

i drive better stoned. buzzed i drive slow. sober like a bat out of hell constantly swearing and flippin the bird. stoned all calm no worries and no swearing.

Then you shouldn't be driving at all if you can't control yourself sober.

Cars and trucks can have a weight anywhere from 2000 lbs to 8,000 lbs. and can easily kill or disable you or inure /kill that innocent mother walking her kids to school for life at 1 mph as you jump the curb because your stoned. Driving is a privilege not a right. According the environmentalists the whole auto industry, every industry that supplies parts to the auto manufacturers themselves are responsible for over half the environments problems. So you think that all these "smart" stoners would realize that driving heavy object while stoned is down right dangerous and they are hurting the environment. Stop being hypocrites. You want to change the world but you don't start with yourself.

You hear all this talk of the total number of deaths and the injured from soldiers to civilians in the Iraq & Afghanistan wars being so outrageous and wrong because it is WAR. Well people die in war because they are purposely trying to kill each other.
So now tell me why is there is not the same outrage against ourselves and the way we drive? We are not at WAR, we are just trying to drive to work or take our kids to school or to celebrate a birthday of a family member. Year after year more people die in car crashes then war. Why is that? Don't tell me every crash is an accident. It's not an accident when "you"do something on purpose that distracts you from driving.
There many places to get your numbers on Iraq & Afghanistan deaths from but it doesn't change the facts that year for year more people are killed or die from driving a car in the U.S. as compared to people purposely trying to kill each other in the Iraq & Afghanistan wars.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/acc-inj.htm

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

So what about the doctors operating you? stoned or sober?
Should everybody be stoned or on some type of "downer" just because they say it makes them better at what they are doing?

 

[raypack]

I couldn't parallel park until I tried it stoned. Now I can do it sober too.

 

[IKILL3RI]

Yeap if your sober and people are driving like a turtle shit I'll start road raging like MothaF**** from hell. A lot of people sober or not they still road rage either way because so many people out there cant drive for shit! LOL I've been driving high for about 6 years and i haven't gotten a single dam ticket in my life, so I'll say you drive way better high than sober!

 

[Bullfrog44]

Year for year more people die in car crashes then war. Why is that? Don't tell me every crash is an accident. It's not an accident when "you"do something on purpose that distracts you from driving.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/acc-inj.htm

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

So what about the doctors operating you? stoned or sober?
Should everybody be stoned or on some type of "downer" just because they say it makes them better at what they are doing?

"it's not an accident when YOU do something on purpose that distracts you from driving." So sipping my redbull and taking my eyes of the road for a second could be a DUI? Or maybe I sneeze. Or maybe my eyes are watering from my farts. Do all these things equal punishment if in an accident? I don't think so. Why should pot? If you can pass a sobriety test, should it matter that you are medicated? You can drive on pharmaceuticals as long as you don't fail a sobriety test. Why different with pot?

You also make the point that driving stoned is like asking your doctor to operate on you under the influence. Ummmm NO! Not even close to the same thing. Almost everybody drives, doctors are few and far between. You take a 10 min test to get your drivers licence, you have 8 years of collage to be a doctor. Like comparing apples to oranges.

I have never got in an accident (knock on wood) and I drive stoned everyday of my life since 16 years old. I have "doctor" friends that don't smoke that have horrible driving records. One girl I know is a nurse and she has 9 accidents at 30 years old. So to put a big blanket over every driver saying that pot can only cause problems while driving is just not true. I believe that it comes down to the driver, more than pot. I would never say that about alcohol or other drugs, but with pot I see zero evidence to the contrary.

 

[supermanlives]

Then you shouldn't be driving at all if you can't control yourself sober.

Cars and trucks can have a weight anywhere from 2000 lbs to 8,000 lbs. and can easily kill or disable you or that innocent mother walking her kids to school for life at 1 mph as you jump the curb because your stoned. Driving is a privilege not a right. According the environmentalists the whole auto industry, every industry that supplies parts to the auto manufacturers themselves are responsible for over half the environments problems. So you think that all these "smart" stoners would realize that driving heavy object while stoned is down right dangerous and they are hurting the environment. Stop being hypocrites. You want to change the world but you don't start with yourself.

You hear all this talk of the total number of deaths and the injured from soldiers to civilians in the Iraq & Afghanistan wars being so outrageous and wrong because it is WAR. Well people die in war because they are purposely trying to kill each other.
So now tell me why is there is not the same outrage against ourselves and the way we drive? We are not at WAR, we are just trying to drive to work or take our kids to school or to celebrate a birthday of a family member. Year for year more people die in car crashes then war. Why is that? Don't tell me every crash is an accident. It's not an accident when "you"do something on purpose that distracts you from driving.
There many places to get your numbers on Iraq & Afghanistan deaths from but it doesn't change the facts that year for year more people are killed or die from driving a car in the U.S. as compared to people purposely trying to kill each other in the Iraq & Afghanistan wars.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/acc-inj.htm

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

So what about the doctors operating you? stoned or sober?
Should everybody be stoned or on some type of "downer" just because they say it makes them better at what they are doing?

bullshit if you assholes would just drive faster and learn how to merge. and put the phone down and dont be putting on makeup. i got a great driving record . i drove new dealership cars for years as part of my job even exotic fast ass cars. never had a scratch. bite me

 

[1and1]

bullshit if you assholes would just drive faster and learn how to merge. and put the phone down and dont be putting on makeup. i got a great driving record . i drove new dealership cars for years as part of my job even exotic fast ass cars. never had a scratch. bite me

Haha me too, I smoked daily when I worked at the car lot. Never scratched one, some tight ass lots too.

Drive Mellow

 

[AlexTrebek]

I'm not too sure about bicycling under the affects of marijuana,
I seem to go about 5-10 KM's faster stoned then usually do sober,
And I often think I'm about to die or get hit by a runaway carrotstick.
Stay safe on the icy roads!

 

[SKUNK420]

"it's not an accident when YOU do something on purpose that distracts you from driving." So sipping my redbull and taking my eyes of the road for a second could be a DUI? Or maybe I sneeze. Or maybe my eyes are watering from my farts. Do all these things equal punishment if in an accident? I don't think so. Why should pot? If you can pass a sobriety test, should it matter that you are medicated? You can drive on pharmaceuticals as long as you don't fail a sobriety test. Why different with pot?

How Fing stoned were you when you wrote that one?

Sipping a redbull and get charged with a DUI? NICE!!

Yeah you should not be driving, get a bus pass or start walking to save the environment and it'll make you healthier which will save on health care costs etc...

Stop blaming other people, doctors or whoever for your lack of personal self control when behind the wheel of a heavy object aka a car or truck. The doctor you know may very well have a worse driving record than you. The doctor has more schooling than you but you were the one who say you are unstable behind the wheel of a car without being high.

 

[SKUNK420]

bullshit if you assholes would just drive faster and learn how to merge. and put the phone down and dont be putting on makeup. i got a great driving record . i drove new dealership cars for years as part of my job even exotic fast ass cars. never had a scratch. bite me

You don't have to drive faster if people knew how to constantly adjust their position on the freeway and let people merge on to or off of the freeway.
I see you do not like people who purposely distract themselves while driving with cell phones or make-up etc.... You kinda get my point. Those type of drivers are killing more people than during the same time frame as both wars we were / are in
Hey if nothing bad has happen oh well good for you but do you ENDORSE DRIVING WHILE STONED?
Would you like the lot boy to crash your car and then say sorry man I was high? You weren't a lot boy were you?
I hope your not the type to say people on meds should not own guns or drive cars themselves.

I wonder how F1 would be if they were high?
BTW you can bite yourself. peace on this thread s.o.s.d.d.

 

[Duplicate]

I think this issue is in my top three for me as far as my personal cognitive dissonances go.

I think the real answer, if I'm honest with myself, is that some people can drive stoned and others can't. I know I can but I would never recommend anyone else do it.

SEES: Search Evaluate Execute Stoned

 

[supermanlives]

never a lot boy. i dont really care what people do. i can spot a bad driver and act accordingly. evrery one act different stoned. some people i would reccomend they not drive stoned. me i love it. i pretend i am playing grand theft auto lol i just wish i could get a ho to give my cash back like the game

 

[trichrider]

this just in:

(Newser) – Smoking marijuana three hours or less before getting behind the wheel nearly doubles your chance of a major car crash, a study suggests. It's the first study to look at the link between cannabis and crash risk, the Canadian researchers believe. They examined study data for more than 49,000 collision victims, limiting their research to crashes that didn't involve alcohol, CBC reports. "The level of impairment might not be as severe as alcohol intoxication, but it's there and it does require a public health response," says an expert.

http://www.newser.com/story/139450/...rce=part&utm_medium=inbox&utm_campaign=newser

another expert opinion...

 

[McSnappler]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...-on-cannabis-triples-risk-of-fatal-crash.html 2nd Dec 2005
Published online by the British Medical Journal the day after the Home Office published proposals suggesting that people caught in possession of up to 500 cannabis joints were likely to escape drug dealing charges.

http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e536 - 9th Feb 2012
Published online by the British Medical Journal two weeks after Richard Branson, representing the Global Commission on Drugs Policy, told the UK Home Affairs Select Committee that taxation of cannabis is the way forward.


Anyone sense a running theme here?