Pot Smoking Raises Risk of Fatal Car Crashes
EmailDriving after smoking pot can double a person’s risk of being in a serious or fatal car crash, according to a review of studies published Thursday in the British Medical Journal.
While it may seem like the review is just reinforcing advice to put it in park when under the influence, it’s actually the first review of studies to look at the risk of crashing under the influence of marijuana independent of any other substances such as alcohol, according to the authors.
The results of the review “provide a more definitive statement on the direction that efforts in public policy and intervention should take in addressing road safety,” the researchers wrote.
The findings did not change the policy of NORML, an organization advocating the legalization of marijuana.
“Just like alcohol, there’s a difference between use and abuse,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML.
The organization condemns driving under the influence, he said.
Researchers in Canada reviewed nine studies that totaled nearly 50,000 people and found those who smoked within three hours before driving were twice as likely to get into a serious car accident. The risk was even higher among drivers aged 35 or younger.
Marijuana plays less of a role in car crashes than alcohol, but smoking pot, even in low doses, can put drivers at risk, researchers found. The studies didn’t clarify what role marijuana plays in minor car crashes.
Man Discovers He's a Woman at the Hospital 
Head Trauma, Behavior Problems Linked
So, somehow this is still worse than drinking and driving?
Posted by: Mark J | February 9, 2012 February 9, 2012, 10:39 pm
Duh?
Posted by: Ang | February 9, 2012 February 9, 2012, 11:21 pm
Having done both (driving under the influence of alcohol and driving while stoned) there’s no appreciable difference in one’s capacity to drive. Both take a great deal of concentration which runs contrary to the effects that both produce. So, if you have a problem with concentration, you’re likely to put yourself (and anyone with you) in great danger. When high, don’t drive!
Posted by: john locke | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 12:05 am
I want to know who paid for this nonsense.
Posted by: oonogil7 | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 12:07 am
News flash: Driving under the influence increases fatal crash
It took Sherlock Holmes to figure this out
Posted by: John | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 1:52 am
I don’t support driving under the influence of anything that can impair your ability to drive but I can’t help but ask.
1. How did the 9 studies pick the 50,000 people?
2. Was there any factor in the 9 that could change the out come of a review of there sum?
3. Why did they pick the 9 out of all other studies, did they pick only studies that error on the side they wanted or was it random?
4. Why is the name of this “Pot Smoking Raises Risk of Fatal Car Crashes” if this review truly was a fair assessment all it has proven is there is an increased chance of a crash not an increased chance of death?
My last question proves that even if the research is solid this report was biased against marijuana and can’t be trusted to bring all the facts to light.
Please disregard this report and do your own research.
Posted by: justme | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 3:05 am
I wonder if driving under the influence of prescription drugs increase fatal car accidents. No I actually wonder how to get the money to conduct such a stupid study? If I had my choice when driving down a two lane road and the oncoming motorist is under the influence of either pot or alcohol, let me get my lighter!
Posted by: Gandolf | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 5:40 am
ADDITIONAL DATA:
* Relative risk of vehicle collision whilst under the ‘acute’ influence of cannabis is 1.92 whilst the relative risk of a similar vehicle accident with a blood alcohol content of 0.8 g/100 mL (the legal limit in many places) is 2.69.
* In a 60 km/h zone the risk of involvement in a vehicle accident with casualties increases exponentially (doubles) with each 5 km/h increase in traveling speed.
* Talking on a Cell phone while driving Increases accident risk by a factor of 4
* Smoking cigarettes while driving Increases accident risk by a factor of 4
* Texting while driving Increases accident risk by a factor of 23
* A driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 or greater is seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle crash than is a driver who has not consumed alcoholic beverages, and a driver with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or greater is about 25 times more likely.
* Alcohol-related accidents are so prevalent, an estimated 40 percent of all persons in the United States will be involved in a traffic mishap blamed on alcohol at some point in their lives.
*** It is important to not that once marijuana is ‘Legalized and Regulated’, it will still be an offense to drive while impaired – DUI laws already apply to marijuana just like they do alcohol. The fact that being under the influence of a substance makes you a worse driver should have no bearing on its legality in general – otherwise we would be forced to hand the market in alcohol back to machine-gun tooting bootleggers.
Posted by: Malcolm Kyle | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 8:38 am
Wow, big pharma is resorting to the exact tactics that started all this mess back in the early 1900′s . Using the the media to scare the masses… I would predict this type of media approach to intensify because of upcoming elections.
” The war was first begun by Rockefeller Junior, with the help of his father, John D. Rockefeller Senior (1839 to 1937), taking over the control of all legal narcotics. A few years after Rockefeller Junior had taken over the narcotics business market, they then set their sights on eliminating medicinal marijuana (known as cannabis), because it was a competitive threat to their chemically-based pharmaceutical sales.
In addition to the control on narcotics, Rockefeller Junior was also directly responsible for the prohibition of marijuana back during the 1930s, and he was the real reason behind the government-sponsored Reefer-Madness propaganda campaign designed to scare people about marijuana.”
Posted by: NOTsoRockefeller | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 9:54 am
To put this in perspective, the headline and story could just as easily have said: “Driving while stoned is TWICE as safe as driving while talking on the cell phone.” Yes folks you are 200% more likely to be involved in an accident if you are talking on a cell phone than if you were driving while under the influence of marijuana. And for those trying to equate it to driving drunk, there is a HUGE difference namely that alcohol removes your inhibitions while marijuana makes you, if anything, more cautious.
Posted by: Common Sense Police | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 9:56 am
A friend who’s a med student actually believes that people who smoke marijuana are BETTER drivers because they tend to driver slower, stop well ahead of stop signs and traffic lights, etc. It seemed lost on her that this impaired reaction time made them more likely to respond poorly to changes in other vehicles’ speed and location (lane switching), and greatly reduced their ability to be an effective defensive driver. Some people need this kind of research.
Posted by: deidra | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 1:09 pm
Here is the kicker rates of DUI went down 15% in states where medical Cannibis was legal I do not support driving while impaired by anything including texting playing with the radio fighting with your children doing your hair,makeup or anything else that takes your concentration off the car and the road. Its really strange that this study does not mention the medical benefits of Cannibis wonder why O yeah 800,000 peaple are arrested yearly in the US for minor Cannibis possesion and with fines,court cost that reach milions of dollars per year as a total and when the average one night stay in a jail cost 200 dollars why would they want to the prison system is a booming industry its a herb not a drug drugs kill people no one has ever died from cannibis alone However if someone wants to prove me wrong please feel free to send me the info
Posted by: Michael | February 10, 2012 February 10, 2012, 10:54 pm
It’s pretty remarkable how pot smokers can look at any data and somehow twist it around in their warped heads that weed’s a harmless and even a magical substance. Sure, there’s a big pharma conspiracy against marijuana. Yeah right. I don’t need any studies to know that marijuana fries a person’s brain and often causes him or her to make stupid decisions and life choices. Lucky me, I’ve had the pleasure of knowing a few stoners all too well. There’s nothing sadder than watching a bright person become complacent, stupid and lazy from smoking that poison.
Posted by: Jane | February 12, 2012 February 12, 2012, 10:50 pm
For more effective impact, instead of only ‘preaching to the choir’, why not also share these pages of opinions with your congress-critters, both Senators and Representatives? If everyone who reads this and similar would find more articles, both pro and con, and email them and especially the comments to the legislative branch of the federal government (the only ones who can change the law), it’d have more chance of achieving the desired result.
Posted by: Krymsun | February 24, 2012 February 24, 2012, 8:45 am