This is rocket science, this is. Where's that Nobel Prize, anybody?
Did we really need another study about the effects of substance use on one's ability to drive, crash, and kill? If you've studied one substance's effect, you've studied them all. What sets this study apart from the others is that this one studied the effects of marijuana on drivers, not so much the driven. Marijuana. This is not a drug I would think anyone would do and then desire a walk further than the refrigerator, much less fancy a drive at speeds capable of killing. My own weedy days long gone, I can still (somewhat hazily) recall the things I did and felt. I don't recall ever getting an overwhelming desire to drive, assuming I'd have ever found my keys. I didn't smoke marijuana like I smoked cigarettes. It was never a do-n-drive or drive-n-go prospect. A little something at the end of the day was a way to relax, not a way to get going and certainly not a way to keep going. What kind of weed aficionados are these that ride off into the sunset — and into other cars? Is McDonald's really that far away that they would have achieved the speed necessary to do more than go bump in the night? Improper prior planning, dude. If you're going to spend that kind of money on something you could go to jail for if caught, at least use it properly for cryin' out loud. Things must've changed in the last few years. I would've guessed this type of driver would've fallen asleep at the wheel before ever leaving the driveway. What kind of pot is this that keeps a person awake? Check your stash. It's supposed to be green, not white — or a liquid.
"Drivers found at fault, and also not at fault, who were both under the influence of cannabis were also both at an increased risk for being in a fatal crash. Why drivers not at fault would also be at an elevated risk as well is unclear. The increased fatality risk of drivers not at fault under the influence of cannabis or alcohol is a phenomenon that deserves further investigation."
Oh Bernard, are you kidding? Investigate away, but surely you already know what you're looking for, yes? At least try a doobie before writing these excruciatingly sober interpretations of the data. A high/drunk passenger whose driver wrecks is probably being driven by someone under the influence of something; at least that's what your statistics say and this could easily be substantiated by a few choice interviews (assuming you can sit still through 20-minute fits of laughter and/or vomiting). The two people in question, having been so well suited for judging each other's sobriety, decided upon one person to be the driver vs the other person driving vs staying the hell home.
"The research team analyzed data on 6,766 drivers who had been found at fault for the crash. The crashes involved immediate deaths, including pedestrian fatalities that occurred from October 2001 to September 2003."
The finding of "immediate death" can easily be attributed to the "oh, to hell with it" attitude many a marijuana smoker gets with use. Drunks more likely pass out from the insta-swim of collision. I'm still surprised the high guys even left the house so it's easy enough to conclude that, in a potentially fatal accident, a pot user would get a little sleepy. They probably don't die right away as much as give up on what they don't recognize as the will to live in favor of a quick nap. They just don't wake up. No doubt it's a very interesting experience for the dead guy who wakes up on the other side of his existence.
Article comments
1 - Bennett
diana - Hmmmmmm. First and formost, I object to the effects of pot being comparable to the effects of alcohol. Not even close, in my opinion.
Your personal experience with pot (or tequilla for that matter) is based on your body's chemistry, which only represents one small spot on the wide curve of effects that these substances have on us. Some people become impared, some become relaxed, and some become paranoid (very few, I hear). But to equate the pot buzz to the intoxication from a personal pitcher of beer is just silly.
Back in the day, let's say early eighties, I experienced a variety of alternative intoxicants, and I know (as do we all) that pot is not in the same league with beer, wine or liquor.
I drove after smoking pot, who hasn't? But I've never been involved in an accident while high.
The motor vehicle accidents I have been involved in (mostly getting run over, or sliding off the road in the snow) happened so fast that straight or sober would have made no difference.
I NEVER drink and drive. Alcohol is a serious drug (I work for a brewery, btw) and knowing how much people drink these days makes me one of the most defensive driver out there.
I think the report you site is overstating a percentage that's below the study's margin of error.
I enjoyed reading your piece though, you musta had some spectacular bud!
2 - diana hartman
i was poking fun at the report i cited...i don't see a viable comparison between pot and alcohol...i would love to know who these people are that toke a bit and crash a lot...i've been driven by people who were high when i was high and i could've died -- from boredom 'cos they were driving so slow...i couldn't have driven because i'm still looking for the keys to the car i had at the time...i'm not still high, i just really lost those keys...
i'm sure there are those who get high and drive and die/kill...i just wonder what else they were on as i'm hesitant to believe that a stoned person could or would drive fast enough to do more than bump a trashcan...
ps...i've never had tequilla...it doesn't have a very good behavioral reputation...
3 - Bennett
"tequilla...it doesn't have a very good behavioral reputation..."
Heh. Yeah. So your point is?
4 - Christopher Rose
diana: IT seems the only fun to be found was in your own brain. This article is shoddy, lazy and just plain wrong on almost every point.
5 - Elvira Black
Diana:
Sh*t, girl, I loved it!
I'm just very grateful that I live in NYC and don't need to drive anywhere--though occasinally having to get in a cab and barrel down the streets of Manhattan at 3 am might give one pause. There hasn't been one person in the history of the world (well, except for one of my wacky friends, but she's from Mars) who would ever be nerdy enough to put the seatbelt on in a cab.
But anyway. I know most of the country has to use a car to get around, and if you don't have a bar nearby, it's probably wise to drink at home--or even drink alone, as George Thoroughgood prefers to do.
Smoking seems like more of a domestic pursuit, unless you live in Amsterdam. In NYC at least, the days of lazing in Central Park with a sixer and a joint or two are long gone. No can do. Can't even smoke cigs in a bar now. Welcome to Disneyland!
Yeah, a study like that could conceivably be used as an anti-pot argument. How silly, and what a waste of money out of someone's pocket--not sure whose.
6 - diana hartman
thanks elvira!
7 - Russell Carpenter
You site no studies in your article. If you would care to take a peek at the literature, you would see that driving high is not nearly as dangerous as driving drunk. In fact, drivers are more likely to drive more slowly and leave more distance between them and the next car.
8 - n/a
i can tell you from personal experience that i am much more focused and aware when i am driving high. i am enjoying it more and therefore feel i pay better and closer attention to my actions than when i am sober.
it also relaxes me and i am less likely to get road rage or become impatient and make quick risky decisions.
9 - The truth
I stopped reading this article and dismissed any and all credibility after reading "If you've studied one substance's effect, you've studied them all." - What a ludacris statement!
Like many others who have commented here, I can speak from personal experience in saying that I am safer, calmer, and drive more economically when high.
10 - Gen
@thetruth: Yes! 100% the same...then i read the comments lol