Driving Stoned: Safer Than Driving Drunk?
EmailDrivers who get behind the wheel stoned instead of drunk may actually be making the roads safer in states that allow medical marijuana, according to new research.
Economists Daniel Rees of the University of Colorado Denver and Mark Anderson of Montana State University looked at traffic fatalities in thirteen states that enacted medical marijuana laws between 1990 and 2009. They found that on average, traffic fatalities in those states fell nearly 9 percent after medical pot became legal.
“What’s going on is that young adults– especially males– were drinking less when medical marijuana became legal,” Rees tells ABC News, pointing to data from the Beer Institute that showed a drop in beer sales in states with new medical marijuana laws. “You legalize medical marijuana and the highways become safer.”
Why? Rees and Anderson have two theories.
“One hypothesis is that it’s just safer to drive under the influence of marijuana than it is drunk,” Rees says. “Drunk drivers take more risk, they tend to go faster. They don’t realize how impaired they are. People who are under the influence of marijuana drive slower, they don’t take as many risks.”
The other theory, Rees says, is that people smoking marijuana simply don’t go out as much.
Could other factors be at work? For example, some states like Tennessee and Virginia, have seen declines in traffic fatalities since 1994 even without medical marijuana laws. And in Colorado–where medical marijuana is legal–police have seen increasing numbers of stoned drivers. In 2010, 32 people involved in fatal crashes had ingested marijuana, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Rees says he and Anderson stand by their research, which they note has not yet been peer-reviewed by colleagues. They say they carefully accounted for nationwide trends and other policy changes — such as seat belt laws or lower speed limits– that could also be responsible for lowering traffic deaths.
“It’s really hard to think, once you’ve accounted for all those things, what could be reducing alcohol consumption and be correlated with legalization of medical marijuana,” Rees said.
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A driver on alcohol sees a stop sign and races past it.
A driver on meth sees a stop sign and slams into it.
A driver on marijuana sees a stop sign and waits for it to turn green.
Posted by: tom | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 2:24 pm
You forgot to mention that stoned drivers can never remember where they left their keys. ;-)
Posted by: WorkingClass | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 2:37 pm
Wouldn’t it make sense to do research into how well/bad drivers are while high on marijuana?
From my experience with friends, I would never ride with a drunk driver but would feel safe with a stoned one. They tend to be a bit paranoid, so drive very carefully, full stops at stop signs, don’t chance red lights, etc. I don’t smoke myself because it is illegal but have a serious medical problem that has shown relief from pot in studies, so I hope it is legalized someday soon!
I often question the idea that pot is a ‘gateway drug’ as the sort of personality that would use cocaine or heroin is extreme risk-takers, so they would try it anyway. I think legalizing pot would be good for the country as a whole. We wouldn’t be jailing those in possession, with all the expense that entails, more people would smoke instead of drinking too much which causes so many drunk-driving fatalities and harm to health, the product would be safer and we could tax it like alcohol and make a lot more money.
Posted by: Librarian53 | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 2:38 pm
Tom, you took my comment! People need to get the corn cob out of their ass. It is an unprocessed plant people. And we are Free Adults.
Posted by: Kole | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 2:40 pm
You forgot to mention that stoned drivers can never remember where they left their keys. ;-)
POSTED BY: WORKINGCLASS | DECEMBER 2, 2011 ===Or they step into the garage and forget why they went there in the first place.
Posted by: allen | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 2:46 pm
The major problem with the “fact” sheet are the data which it doesn’t include. A person who consumes cannabis can “test positive” 90 days after last ingestion. The alleged fact sheet does not include any notation that these drivers were tested for active metabolites in the blood stream or for inert metabolites which could mean that these drivers were not under the influence of cannabis when driving.
The report does not differentiate whether the driver was at fault or not, only that he was involved in a fatal accident. Even drunken driver’s are found not at fault in about 10% of accidents in which they’re involved. Yes Virginia, even drunks get t-boned at intersections when they have a green signal, or rear ended when stopped at red lights.
The study does not differentiate drivers who “tested positive” for cannabis as well as being legally drunk. A very famous collision on the Taconic Parkway in New York which resulted in the deaths of 7 people was initially latched onto by the Know Nothing prohibitionists as “caused by merrywanna” until the release of the autopsy of the at fault driver, Dianne Schuler, revealed that she had a BAC of 0.19 at the time of the collision. She would have been fine to drive if she didn’t have cannabis metabolites in her system? I don’t think so.
The study does not account for the 5.80% increase in Colorado’s population during the study period, nor does it mention the rate of fatalities to miles driven.
The classic rule of lying with statistics is to emphasize percentage change if the number base is small, and to use the numbers when large but the percentage small. We see that the CDOT used the former in its attempt to blame these fatalities on pot. In 2008 it was 31 who allegedly were under the influence of THC and in 2010 it was 32. If we want to play games with percentages, why is there no mention of the 13.5% reduction of allegedly under the influence of cannabis drivers between 2009 and 2010?
Posted by: Duncan20903 | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 2:52 pm
Stoners drive much safer, WHEN they leave the house, they drive much slower, like 45 in a 70, that slow.
Posted by: Sandy | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 2:58 pm
I’ve never had an issue driving stoned, in fact, I prefer it. It doesn’t allow for road rage.
Posted by: Marie | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 3:05 pm
Mr. Duncan comment was hard to follow for me but sure sounds good!
Posted by: Willy Ball | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 3:08 pm
Tom, you made my day!
Posted by: EthanR | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 3:12 pm
You don’t need statistics to know this is true.
I know tons of people that drive stoned, and I know tons of alcoholics.
Alcohol makes you not give a darn.
cannabis makes you think before acting, thus the slow response to some people.
If your too drunk, most still try to drive.
If you are too high, most will not even attempt driving.
You don’t need statistics to prove all this, just need to know what the hell you are talking about instead of grabbing numbers from unreliable sources.
Posted by: Stu | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 3:12 pm
Impaired is impaired. Toss ‘em in jail, either way.
Posted by: Lance | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 3:34 pm
I have a ton of money in prison stocks, so don’t legalize pot, and start imprisoning all speeders and bad drivers in general. I need the money!.
Posted by: blind spot | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:08 pm
Here’s a concept: How about driving without being stoned OR drunk?
Posted by: Fred | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:12 pm
@ Allen: Ive been smoking marijuana every day since i was 14 years old and i am now 20. I drive high almost everyday and many if not all of my friends drive high or smoke cannabis while driving as do I. never have i been pulled over, given a citation, caused and/or was the victim of a car accident. I also intern at a police station which has a policy of taking kids weed and throwing it away instead of fining them $100 for less than 1 ounce and every single officer there has said that if they were driving and saw another car coming down a narrow road at them, they would rather have that driver be stoned on marijuana than drunk on alcohol. instead of looking at fallacies in statistics maybe you should try it yourself some day and see how easy it really is to drive high.
Posted by: Khan | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:14 pm
Posted by: Lance—Same with the lady impaired by her three kids screaming in the back of the mini van, throwing fruit loops, Or the CEO oblivious to the world talking on their cell phone?
Posted by: snewsom2997 | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:15 pm
Posted by: Khan–Depending what state your in, a blood test can be compelled, you have no choice.
Posted by: snewsom2997 | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:23 pm
Shouldn’t drive under the influence of any drug.. period. but I think the point being.. drunk driver is more likely to wrap their car around a telephone pole at very high speeds.. high on pot.. not so much.
Posted by: LateNight | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:45 pm
Maybe there is another explanation for the drop…it might have something to do with people that were self-medicating with alcohol are now legally medicating with marajuana, hence less people may be driving drunk? Just a thought to explain why the drop was seen in some states where medical marajuana was made legal.
Posted by: mw | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:46 pm
There are good drivers and bad drivers. The ability to opperate a motorized vehicle can be judged by experience and the IQ of the opperator. If a good driver was impaired, dew to drugs or alcohol, to the same level of that of a bad driver, no problem yet. Now what happens to an impaired bad driver? Now you have a problem and even worse when tired. An impaired driver is far safer than any driver who has fallen asleep. The ability to opperate a motorized vehicle is no longer impaired it is “0″.
Posted by: Bruce | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:48 pm
Why didn’t they compare fatality rates against states who did not enact MMLs? I noticed that national traffic fatalities dropped by more than 30% over the same period…
Posted by: Not A Peer Review But... | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 4:51 pm
There’s only so much that can happen in the drive-thru lane.
Posted by: magick727 | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 5:01 pm
It’s all qute simple. Follow the money. How much money do the courts make imposing fines? That is why is is not legal…. yet.
Posted by: Emje | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 5:17 pm
One more thing, I wonder about the pot today. I know several folks who smoke an awful lot. At a certain point, they become quite beligerant. In the past, I knew many who smoked, and never was there a fist fight, a driving accident, a murder. With today’s pot, I’m not so sure. Can anyone discuss why this is so?
Posted by: Emje | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 5:21 pm
The state cant lose all the income they get from dui. Next there will be lay offs at the courts and law firms. thoses damm pot smokers
Posted by: lost income | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 5:25 pm
=Or they step into the garage and forget why they went there in the first place.———–One does not have to be stoned for that to happen , even with some ( rather irritating ) frequency .
Posted by: DAVEM | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 5:41 pm
I have been smoking for 32 years…I have never been in an accident,,I drive slower and am more aware of my surrondings..some people may call that paranoia..maybe so, but it makes me be so much more careful when I am driving….I don’t do it frequently but when I do I think I am better driving stoned then straight…I drove once a little tipsy,,well maybe a little more than tipsy and it was the worst driving experience of my life..I made it home safe!!
Posted by: peacefrog1963 | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 6:21 pm
I am for the legalization of pot, but I would torture ANY person who drove my child or grandchild while under the influence of ANYTHING
Posted by: vissionquest | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 7:16 pm
The Man always wantin to get in ur biz. They got this car?! see. it runs on WATAR MAAAN!!!!
Posted by: amused123 | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 7:39 pm
The study was conducted by IZA–Germany, where marijuana is legal. The motor vehicle fatality rate nation wide dropped from 17.9% in 1990 to 11.0% in 2009 (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety),….most states did not have medical MJ . Most medical marijuana users are young males, the majority of whom would no doubt be willing to obtain their drug on the street,and most pot- heads have little interest in alcohol. Laws have become more strict over the years, zero tolerance among many others……I support legalizing all drugs, but I suspect this study will be picked apart when subjected to peer review. It’s a silly assertion and I wonder how the researchers bias influenced the results.
Posted by: free_2_choose | December 2, 2011 December 2, 2011, 10:34 pm
Some stoned drivers lose sense of time and space. Another car is approaching, or a sigg, or a curve, then you totally daydream to what seems to be hours, then you come back and the daydream was only a couple of seconds — but this is all it takes for a major accident.
I can drink moderately and drive, but I can not smoke and drive
Posted by: patrc | December 3, 2011 December 3, 2011, 1:51 am
I didn’t see this in any of the comments… When a person drinks to get drunk, they usually continue to do so until they sleep, often times driving before they sleep it off. When a person gets high on pot, they know right away if they are too impaired to drive. So they sit around, enjoy the buzz, laugh, eat something and wait until they are safe to drive. They don’t have to sleep it off.. just wait awhile and good to go. I’ve seen alot of impaired drivers in my 40 adult years. No way would I get into a car with a drinker or drink and drive myself. Marijuana smokers or much safer drivers. just for starters, they know when they are too high too drive… a drinker never does.
Posted by: grandma4cannabis | December 3, 2011 December 3, 2011, 1:54 am
LEGALIZE MARIJuana~~~
Posted by: Freedomchoice | December 3, 2011 December 3, 2011, 3:21 pm
Dont Drink And Drive, Just Smoke And Fly)
Posted by: Freedom | December 4, 2011 December 4, 2011, 10:20 am
I am a Cannabis grower. Marijuana is not harmful for patients at all. There is no medical proof that it’s harmful for people in anyways and there is no case where someone died off smoking marijuana. Marijuana is goof for patients and recreational smokers. It makes you smile, hungry and happy. How can that be bad?
Posted by: freeCannabis | December 8, 2011 December 8, 2011, 10:18 am
never thought about the possible impact on alcohol sales, there are just so many interests
Posted by: freddy | December 15, 2011 December 15, 2011, 3:47 am
The writers counterpoint paragraph with the colorado stats is garbage. colorado cops see more stoned drivers and ooooooohhhh 32 people crashed while smoking pot… SO? while tragic, 32 out of how many? Is that a down tend since marijuana became legal? Are colorado cops seeing less drunk drivers? Has alchol consumption dropped in colorado? ….. While I appreciate the piece it was poorly writen.
Posted by: Specter | December 15, 2011 December 15, 2011, 10:50 am
Fox news had this story up for a second then decided it didn’t fit thier agenda. Way to report the news fox.
Posted by: Specter | December 15, 2011 December 15, 2011, 12:58 pm