CONSUMER Legalized marijuana linked to a sharp rise in car crashes

[DigitalDrifter]

Big surprise. Get ready for higher car insurance rates , thanks to potheads.
Canada, get ready.


About 14 percent of drivers under the influence of pot had a child in their vehicle.

California Highway Patrol officers investigate the scene of a multi-car crash on Interstate 880 in Fremont, Calif. Several people were killed in a multi-car crash that closed several lanes of a major San Francisco Bay highway and officials say the driver suspected of causing it was under the influence of marijuana.Joseph Geha / AP file


There has been an increase by up to 6 percent in the number of highway crashes in four of the states where the recreational use of marijuana has been legalized, according to a pair of new studies.

The new reports do not prove there’s a direct risk caused by the use of marijuana among motorists, but they raise caution flags, especially since there is no easy way to test drivers to be sure if they are, in fact, under the influence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, said David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Highway Loss Data Institute.



“It’s certainly early in the game,” Harkey told NBC News. But, he warned, “We’re seeing a trend in the wrong direction.”

Legalized marijuana linked to a sharp rise in car crashes

 

[DigitalDrifter]

 

[ABikerSailor]

From your link........................................

The new reports do not prove there’s a direct risk caused by the use of marijuana among motorists, but they raise caution flags, especially since there is no easy way to test drivers to be sure if they are, in fact, under the influence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, said David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Highway Loss Data Institute.

Also from your link....................................

Harkey cautioned there are limits to what the studies show. There is a “correlation,” reflecting the fact that crashes rose once pot became legal, but that is not the same as “causation,” he added, meaning other, unseen factors could be at work.

That could help explain why earlier studies have often conflicted over the effects of marijuana on highway safety. One, released by the University of Colorado in 2014, showed a surge in fatalities involving stoned drivers. But a study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Virginia a year later found no clear increase in risk.

Part of the problem is that it is difficult to accurately measure how pot impacts drivers. “Many studies, using a variety of methods, have attempted to estimate the risk of driving after use of marijuana,” a NHTSA report advised Congress last year. “While useful in identifying how marijuana affects the performance of driving tasks, experimental and observational studies do not lend themselves to predicting real-world crash risk.”

Police have a particularly difficult challenge because of the way marijuana works in the body. Blood alcohol levels provide a direct correlation showing how much a motorist has had to drink, with those levels dropping rapidly as someone sobers up. But while THC levels spike after smoking weed or eating a consumable, the psychoactive ingredient remains in the body for weeks, long after it has stopped having any impact.


Currently, they don't have an accurate way of determining if someone is impaired or not, because THC stays in the body long after the intoxicating effects have gone away.

 

[BasicHumanUnit]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and drive "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

When I was 16 I had some goof ball "friends" who loved to smoke pot.
I never felt inclined. Anyway, these morons were FOOLS after smoking pot.
They did such cerebral things as lighting each others farts (stupid ass white boys), and walking around getting spooked at every spot light on any well lit home and street light. These idiots would duck behind bushes and trees thinking they were being "watched".

POT turns idiots into certified complete imbeciles

NO WAY IN HELL ANY OF THEM WERE IN ANY CONDITION TO DRIVE A MOTOR VEHICLE.

I don't give a shit what ANY study or person says. I've seen it for myself.

 

[ABikerSailor]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

You must not know very many pot heads then. There are a lot of us out there who won't drive while stoned.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

Yep, I've heard the same sort of shit.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

You must not know very many pot heads then. There are a lot of us out there who won't drive while stoned.

So you're acknowledging driving while "stoned" makes you more dangerous on the road. Thank you.

 

[BasicHumanUnit]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

You must not know very many pot heads then. There are a lot of us out there who won't drive while stoned.

Don't. And don't say it's safe.
At least you seem responsible.
get stoned at home and stay home. I couldn't care less.
But when some high (or drunk) jackass gets behind the wheel and is a threat to me ...I don't take kindly.
Especially if I'm on a motorcycle.

 

[ABikerSailor]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

You must not know very many pot heads then. There are a lot of us out there who won't drive while stoned.

So you're acknowledging driving while "stoned" makes you more dangerous on the road. Thank you.

Actually, yeah. If a person is to smoke a high grade Indica, their reflexes are slowed, and they generally feel like getting still and going to sleep. No, I wouldn't want to be driving in a condition where I constantly felt sleepy.

 

[ABikerSailor]

By the way................did you know that if you eat a lot of sugar, it negates the high? That is one of the reasons I like to eat before smoking.

Drinking coffee on the other hand, seems to make the effects a bit better. I think it's the caffeine.

 

[Oddball]

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and drive "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

When I was 16 I had some goof ball "friends" who loved to smoke pot.
I never felt inclined. Anyway, these morons were FOOLS after smoking pot.
They did such cerebral things as lighting each others farts (stupid ass white boys), and walking around getting spooked at every spot light on any well lit home and street light. These idiots would duck behind bushes and trees thinking they were being "watched".

POT turns idiots into certified complete imbeciles

NO WAY IN HELL ANY OF THEM WERE IN ANY CONDITION TO DRIVE A MOTOR VEHICLE.

I don't give a shit what ANY study or person says. I've seen it for myself.

Probably fools before they smoked as well. They must have been fucked in the head to start with. I've never known anyone to react to marijuana like that.

 

[debbiedowner]

After states legalized medical marijuana, traffic deaths fell | Reuters

(Reuters Health) - Legalization of medical marijuana is not linked with increased traffic fatalities, a new study finds. In some states, in fact, the number of people killed in traffic accidents dropped after medical marijuana laws were enacted.

Instead of seeing an increase in fatalities, we saw a reduction, which was totally unexpected,” said Julian Santaella-Tenorio, the study’s lead author and a doctoral student at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

Since 1996, 28 states have legalized marijuana for medical use.

Deaths dropped 11 percent on average in states that legalized medical marijuana, researchers discovered after analyzing 1.2 million traffic fatalities nationwide from 1985 through 2014.

The decrease in traffic fatalities was particularly striking – 12 percent – in 25- to 44-year-olds, an age group with a large percentage of registered medical marijuana users, the authors report in the American Journal of Public Health.

Marijuana legalization has not increased traffic fatalities

 

[toobfreak]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

You must not know very many pot heads then. There are a lot of us out there who won't drive while stoned.

So you're acknowledging driving while "stoned" makes you more dangerous on the road. Thank you.

Actually, yeah. If a person is to smoke a high grade Indica, their reflexes are slowed, and they generally feel like getting still and going to sleep. No, I wouldn't want to be driving in a condition where I constantly felt sleepy.

Cannabis Indica is not the same as Cannabis Sativa.

 

[Anathema]

Currently, they don't have an accurate way of determining if someone is impaired or not, because THC stays in the body long after the intoxicating effects have gone away.

That’s fine. The fact that the individual has used a substance containing THC in the past should be sufficient evidence of a total lack of values, morals and character sufficient to see them executed on the spot.

 

[mdk]

Clearly the only solution is more government.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Not all nutbags are fearmongers with sticks up their asses. But all fearmongers with sticks up their asses are nutbags.

Marijuana will be legal for adults in this nation before my 60th birthday. And you pricks will probably be consumers.

 

[ABikerSailor]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

You must not know very many pot heads then. There are a lot of us out there who won't drive while stoned.

So you're acknowledging driving while "stoned" makes you more dangerous on the road. Thank you.

Actually, yeah. If a person is to smoke a high grade Indica, their reflexes are slowed, and they generally feel like getting still and going to sleep. No, I wouldn't want to be driving in a condition where I constantly felt sleepy.

Cannabis Indica is not the same as Cannabis Sativa.

I know, Cannabis Sativa gives one an energized buzz and they feel like doing stuff. Only thing is, I won't trust myself while stoned on a good Sativa either.

And, because the effects wear off within an hour or two (faster if you eat sugar), it's not hard to wait to be sober before driving.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I've actually had guys I know look me right in the eye and say they are more alert and driver "better" after a six pack or so.

I'm sure pot heads feel EXACTLY the same....no matter what reality is.

You must not know very many pot heads then. There are a lot of us out there who won't drive while stoned.

well he was talking about 16 year olds....

 

[Anathema]

Marijuana will be legal for adults in this nation before my 60th birthday. And you pricks will probably be consumers.

It w never be legal on my property or in my car. Nor will I associate with those who use it.