11/01/2008 00:00:00
The Truth About Driving When You're High on Marijuana
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Concerns about stoned drivers careening across our nation's highways are
frequently cited as a justification for the continued criminalization of
marijuana. Given the massive casualties associated with drunk driving,
it's easy to understand how the specter of increased roadside fatalities
can be effective in reinforcing negative attitudes about marijuana.
However, a new report reveals that, while stoned driving isn't smart,
it's hardly the death sentence some would have us believe.
NORML's Paul Armentano has prepared a scientific review of over a dozen
studies evaluating marijuana's effect on psychomotor skills and the
risks posed by marijuana intoxication behind the wheel. Armentano finds
that marijuana impairment is generally "subtle and short-lived," falling
far short of the threats posed by drunk driving.
Although acute cannabis intoxication following smoking has been
shown to mildly impair psychomotor skills, this impairment is seldom
severe or long lasting. In closed course and driving simulator studies,
marijuana’s acute effects on psychomotor performance include minor
impairments in tracking (eye movement control) and reaction time, as
well as variation in lateral positioning, headway (drivers under the
influence of cannabis tend to follow less closely to the vehicle in
front of them), and speed (drivers tend to decrease speed following
cannabis inhalation). In general, these variations in driving behavior
are noticeably less consistent or pronounced than the impairments
exhibited by subjects under the influence of alcohol. Also, unlike
subjects impaired by alcohol, individuals under the influence of
cannabis tend to be aware of their impairment and try to compensate for
it accordingly, either by driving more cautiously or by expressing an
unwillingness to drive altogether. [see original for citations]
Of course, the point here isn’t that one should get stoned and cruise
the strip blasting Led Zeppelin. But this is information one would want
if they were trying to create a smart marijuana policy as opposed to the
disgraceful mess of legislative lunacy currently passing for marijuana
law in America.
Whenever someone claims that marijuana makes you sick or crazy; that it
will cause you to crash your car, kill your comrades, or
catastrophically co-opt your common sense, just look for the corpses.
Where are they? I've looked high and low, but I can't find the
disastrous consequences of marijuana use apparent anywhere other than
the Drug Czar's predictably propagandized press releases.
But to be fair, there are two horrible things about marijuana that
everyone should be mindful of and they are as follows: 1) the smell
attracts cops, nosy neighbors, and mooches and 2) the stuff remains
detectable in your system for up to a month, thereby enabling various
authorities to become needlessly aware of your activities.
If not for these two unfortunate conditions, the marijuana war wouldn't
even begin to work, and the blockheads who've been bothering to fight it
would've wandered off decades ago.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle_blog/2008/jan/10/the_truth_about_driving_when_you
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Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13136
Author:
Drug War Chronicle via UKCIA
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