Marijuana - Marijuana and Driving

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    MarijuanaandDriving

    Marijuana is directly linked to impaired driving. A meta--analysis

    published in the peer-reviewed 2012 edition of Epidemiological Reviews

    looked at nine studies conducted over the past two decades on marijuanaand car-crash risk. It concluded, drivers who test positive for marijuana or

    self--report using marijuana are more than twice as likely as other drivers to

    be involved in motor vehicle crashes.i

    A widely cited article in the British Medical Journalfrom 2012 concluded that

    marijuana use doubles the risk of car crashes.ii

    Another recent meta--analysis of nine studies found that marijuana use

    by drivers is associated with a significantly increased risk of being involved

    in motor vehicle crashes.iii

    FortheUnitedStatesin2009,63%offatallyinjureddriversweretestedforthepresenceofdrugs,whichisequivalentto3,952fatally,injureddrivers.

    Narcoticsandcannabinoidsaccountedforalmosthalfofallpositiveresults.iv

    Threedecadesofeducationondrunkdrivingandtoughlawshavehadthe

    directeffectofreducingalcohol-relatedcarcrashesdramaticallyinthelast

    thirtyyears.Infact,arecentsurveybytheU.S.DepartmentofTransportation

    foundthat1in40nighttime,weekenddriverstestedpositiveforablood

    alcoholcontent(BAC)levelof0.08a70percentreductionsince1973.The

    surveytestedotherdrugsforthefirsttimeandfoundthat1in12testedpositiveformarijuana.Datafrompeer-reviewed,publishedresearchfinds

    thatmarijuanaimpairsmotorcoordination,reactiontime,attentiveness,and

    perceptionoftimeandspeed.

    InastudyofseriouslyinjureddriversadmittedtoaLevelt 1shock

    traumacenter,morethanaquarterofalldriverstestedpositivefor

    marijuana.ResearchconductedattheUniversityofAuckland,New

    Zealandfoundthat

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    habitualmarijuanauserswere9.5timesmorelikelytobeinvolvedin

    crashes,with5.6percentofpeoplewhohadcrashedhavingtakenthedrug,comparedto0.5percentofthecontrolgroup.

    iMu-ChenLi,JoanneE.Brady,CharlesJ.DiMaggio,ArielleR.Lusardi,KeaneYTzong,andGuohuaLi

    iiM.Asbridge,J.A.Hayden,J.L.Cartwright.Acutecannabisconsumptionandmotorvehiclecollision

    risk:systematicreviewofobservationalstudiesandmeta-analysis. BMJ,2012;344(feb092):e536

    DOI:10.1136/bmj.e536

    iiiLi,M.,Brady,J.,DiMaggio,C.,Lusardi,R.,Tzong,K.andLi,G.(inpress).Cannabisuseandmotor

    vehiclecrashes.EpidemiologicReviews .

    ivhttp://nationalallianceformarijuanaprevention.org/wp-

    content/uploads/2012/08/fars_report_Fatally-injured-drivers-october_2011-Excerpt.pdf