click on picture below
Question: Hey, weedman don't
you think the Government and the Do-gooders will attempt to stop you from
saying this?
Answer:Yeah, I actually do think
there will be a effort to dis-credit me on this issue but the truth is the
truth. I've only listed Government reports here! I say "Bitch" at the Government
for lying not at me for exposing the truth!
Two decades of research show that marijuana
use may actually reduce driver accidents.
The effects of marijuana use on driving performance have been extensively
researched over the last 20 years. All major studies show that marijuana
consumption has little or no effect on driving ability, and may actually
reduce accidents. Here's a summary of the biggest studies into pot use and
driving.
A
1983 study by the US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration
(NHTSA) concluded that the only significant affect of cannabis use was slower
driving - arguably a positive effect of driving high.
A comprehensive 1992 NHTSA
study revealed that pot is rarely involved in driving accidents, except
when combined with alcohol. The study concluded that "the THC-only drivers
had an [accident] responsibility rate below that of the drug free drivers."
This study was buried for six years and not released until 1998.
A
1993 NHTSA study dosed Dutch drivers with THC and tested them on real
Dutch roads. It concluded that THC caused no impairment except for a slight
deficiency in the driver's ability to "maintain a steady lateral position
on the road." This means that the THC-dosed drivers had a little trouble
staying smack in the center of their lanes, but showed no other problems.
The study noted that the effects of even high doses of THC were far less
than that of alcohol or many prescription drugs. The study concluded that
"THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small."
A massive 1998
study by the University of Adelaide and Transport South Australia examined
blood samples from drivers involved in 2,500 accidents. It found that drivers
with only cannabis in their systems were slightly less likely to cause accidents
than those without. Drivers with both marijuana and alcohol did have a high
accident responsibility rate. The report concluded, "there was no indication
that marijuana by itself was a cause of fatal accidents."
In Canada, a 1999 University
of Toronto meta-analysis of studies into pot and driving showed that
drivers who consumed a moderate amount of pot typically refrained from passing
cars and drove at a more consistent speed. The analysis also confirmed that
marijuana taken alone does not increase a driver's risk of causing an accident.
A major study done
by the UK Transport Research Laboratory in 2000 found that drivers under
the influence of cannabis were more cautious and less likely to drive dangerously.
The study examined the effects of marijuana use on drivers through four weeks
of tests on driving simulators. The study was commissioned specifically to
show that marijuana was impairing, and the british government was embarrassed
with the study's conclusion that "marijuana users drive more safely under
the influence of cannabis."
According to the Cannabis
and Driving report, a comprehensive literature review published in 2000
by the UK Department of Transportation, "the majority of evidence suggests
that cannabis use may result in a lower risk of [accident] culpability."
The Canadian Senate issued a major report into all aspects of marijuana in
2002. Their chapter on Driving
under the influence of cannabis concludes that "Cannabis alone, particularly
in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving."
The most recent study into drugs and driving was published in the July
2004 Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention. Researchers at the
Dutch Institute for Road Safety Research analyzed blood tests from those
in traffic accidents, and found that even people with blood alcohol between
0.5% and 0.8% (below the legal limit) had a five-fold increase in the risk
of serious accident. Drivers above the legal alcohol limit were 15 times
more likely to have a collision. Drugs like Valium and Rohypnol produced
results similar to alcohol, while cocaine and opiates showed only a small
but "not statistically significant" increase in accident risk. As for the
marijuana-only users? They showed absolutely no increased risk of accidents
at all.
LINKS AND REFERENCES
1983 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration study: Stein,
AC et al., A Simulator Study of the Combined Effects of Alcohol and Marijuana
on Driving Behavior-Phase II, Washington DC: Department of Transportation
(1983)
www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_myth12.shtml
1992 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration study: The Incidence
and Role of Drugs in Fatally Injured Drivers, by K.W. Terhune, et al. of
the Calspan Corp. Accident Research Group in Buffalo, NY (Report # DOT-HS-808-065)
www.drugsense.org/tfy/nhtsa1.htm
1993 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration study: Marijuana
and actual Driving Performance, By Hindrik WJ Robbe and James F O'Hanlon.
Institute for Human Psychopharmacology, University of Limburg
www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_driving4.shtml
1998 University of Adelaide and Transport South Australia study:
www.ukcia.org/research/driving4.html
1999 University of Toronto Study, Marijuana Not a Factor in Driving Accidents:
newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin/19990329a.asp
2000 UK Transport Research Laboratory study on Cannabis and Driving:
www.mapinc.org/newscc/v00/n1161/a02.html
2000 UK Department of Transportation's Cannabis and Driving report:
www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_504567.hcsp
2002 Report of the Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs
www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/repfinalvol1part4-e.htm
July 2004, Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention, Psychoactive substance
use and the risk of motor vehicle accidents.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db
=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15094417
For a less scientific and more amusing study of the combination of drugs
and driving, go here:
www.techno.de/mixmag/interviews/Driving_on_drugs.html
A BETTER WAY TO TEST
Performance testing is better than drug testing
Cannabis Culture, January 2005
cannabisculture.com/articles/4130.html
Alternatives to Drug Testing: Performance testing Non-testers List
www.nontesterslist.com/nontesters/ptest.html
Performance testing can add an extra measure of safety
HR Magazine, February 1996
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n2_v41/ai_18159115
An Alternative to Drug Testing
Inc Magazine, April 1995
www.inc.com/magazine/19950401/2235.html
MEDIA REPORTS ON "DRUGGED DRIVING" LAWS
UK Launches
Drug Driving Tests
Daily Telegraph, December 22, 2004
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n1821/a02.html
Drug Office
Out To Convince Teens Pot Impairs Driving
Lexington Herald-Leader, December 3, 2004
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n1726/a05.html
Growing
danger: Drugged driving
USA Today, Oct 21, 2004
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-10-21-cover-drugged-driving_x.htm
Zero-tolerance
drugged driving law doing the job
The Daily Press, July 8, 2004
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n977/a05.html
Lawmakers
Aiming for 'Zero Tolerance' Of Pot-Smoking Drivers
The Athens News, May 5, 2004
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n683/a02.html
Drugged Driving
Statutes Pushed
Boston Globe, March 21, 2004
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n464/a02.html
New Legislation
To Allow Police To
Conduct Roadside Tests
for Drug Impaired Drivers
Ottawa Citizen, February 23, 2004
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v04/n319/a07.html
Too Many One
Toke Over Line, Police Say
Globe and Mail, February 1, 2003
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v03/n173/a01.html
Drug Czar,
Prohibition Establishment Seek 'Zero Tolerance' for 'Drugged Driving'
The week online with DRCNet, November 22, 2002
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v02/n2157/a04.html
British Police
Plan New Drug Tests For Drivers
Reuters, August 3, 2000
www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v00/n1105/a12.html
Marjiuana
Report Too Hot Too Handle
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, October 1998
www.norml.org.nz/Marijuana/Driving.htm#abc981014b
"Steer
Clear of Pot" Media Campaign
US Office of National Drug Control Policy
www.mediacampaign.org/steerclear/index.html
