Stoned while driving: USA Today prints the same Bullsh*t

[Bennyboy]

USA Today’s Chris Woodyard, an automotive reporter, wrote a story titled Legalized marijuana foes warn of more stoned motorists. Ignoring anything resembling objective or even researched reporting, Woodyard instead appears to have used talking points from No on Proposition 19‘s Roger Salazar as the basis for his story.

The one-sided story ignores a simple, basic fact that destroys Salazar’s baseless talking point: studies have shown marijuana is not an impairment to safe driving.

Had so-called reporter Woodyard bothered to even Google the phrases “marijuana driving study” or even just “marijuana driving,” he would have found the study cited above in half a dozen results on the very first page.

Like most mainstream reporters, however, he ignored actual journalism and decided to go with journalism-by-press-release instead. Bravo, Woodyard. Best stick with cars from now on. You’ve proven yourself out of your league otherwise.

For the record, I also cover automotive (alt-fuel and “green” vehicle technologies) at a number of outlets online. Journalism by press release is usually just fine in that genre, but when you enter into politics or editorial, you’d best do some research first. Woodyard, I think, was in over his head on this one.

READ MORE:http://cannacentral.com/news/usa-today-drops-ball-on-journalism-prints-garbage-stoned-motorist-story/

And the study: http://cannacentral.com/news/driving-high-on-marijuana-not-an-impairment-study-says/

Which back up every other study done in every country that reaffirms the fact that driving while high is no worse than fast food in most cases. And in some (males 18-30) it is actually beneficial.

[midnight]

1. With the push to legalise this herb, the public is going to get this deception

from those who are making money from keeping this herb illegal......

[slay]

2. So true. There is little to worry about with stoned drivers

except long lines at the local take-out joint. :smoke: :evilgrin: I know many people who drive perfectly after smoking some weed - way better than MANY non-smokers I know. It is not AT ALL like drinking. Not even similar.

[peopleb4money]

3. If they're so concerned about auto accidents

then they should have kept alcohol illegal. More than half of auto accidents are alcohol related and alcohol poisoning is a leading cause of death in young people. The difference between pot and alcohol is that I know that I'm actually fucked up, where with alcohol, I think I'm perfectly normal even though I might be falling all over myself. Another difference between alcohol and pot is you can still walk in a straight line, even if you just ripped a bong hit full of white widow. Your basic motor skills are intact. Being fucked up on weed is less like being inebriated and more like experiencing a different change in perception. The change isn't so much a numbing or a blurring out of reality but the exact opposite in a lot of ways, It heightens a lot of aspects of perception. I would rather a stoner drive over a drunk.I personally don't like driving stoned, though I've never had a problem with it. I never cut people off, got pulled over, or any of that. I followed the basic etiquette like I usually do. Some of my friends are incredibly good drivers while stoned. If smoking weed was such an impairment on driving, I would be dead now. I think auto accidents will actually go down if they legalize it. If people are legally allowed to use an alternative to alcohol that doesn't impair basic motor function, even at high potency doses, I have no doubt it will go down.

They should be a bit more objective too. Its not the most difficult task in the world to find whether or not auto accidents have gone up in countries that have adopted relaxed laws for pot.

[Tunkamerica]

4. more than half?

got a citation on that one?

[peopleb4money]

5. Its actually 41% for all fatal crashes. (nearly half as of 2006) My apologies

Its still very alarming though.

http://www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/personal-injury/motor-vehicle-accidents/car-accidents/statistics/

I was actually going off of a quote I heard from Terrence Mckenna from the 90's or 80's. He may have said half or roughly half. I don't know what the statistics are for alcohol's relation to traffic accidents in general.

[Tunkamerica]

6. and i saw that stat, apparently 60% of those cases

never had a blood alcohol test done. And cases where alcohol was involved are any case where the driver or passenger had 0.01 percent or more blood alcohol or if officers saw alcohol at the scene.

Go to the store, buy a six pack drive home and get in a wreck alcohol is involved.

The numbers aren't trustworthy. That being said I never drive after more than 2 beers. I don't condone drunk driving at all, but I don't trust these numbers at all.

[dem mba]

7. so I've done some hands-on research on this issue back in the day

and if you get lit up and drive, it's certainly worse than driving sober. Reaction times are slowed and decision-making skills are negatively affected. Yea, you can probably drive from point A to point B and be fine, but if another driver swerves or a tree falls on to a road, the stoned driver is going to struggle to deal with it compared to a sober driver. I don't need to read a study to show me otherwise, I know this firsthand.

Obviously no question that it is worse to drive drunk than to drive stoned. And it's even worse to drive drunk AND stoned.

I also don't think more people will drive stoned if pot gets legalized. Pot is already available in every town, city, hamlet and village across this great country. The people who enjoy pot are already smoking it (and driving around after smoking it).

[Bluenorthwest]

8. The OP provides a link to a real clinical study. Read it.

Your own personal observations of yourself do not count as research. And there is actual clinical research. My 'personal first hand knowledge' says the opposite of what yours says. Drivers are the same or better when marijuana is used. The same or better. So my firsthand and yours do not jibe, which is why controlled studies are used.
The majority will agree with me, in terms of personal experience, because I am flat out correct. I will add that I can not comment on what driving under the influence of alcohol compares, because I'd never in a million years do such a thing. I personally don't drink at all, maybe on long flights or at a wedding, but not in daily life.

[dem mba]

9. well i've also spent about 20 years of my life

living with and driving around with stoners. So my experience goes beyond merely my own first hand knowledge.

The links in the OP don't give a ton of info on the study. Did the participants smoke the whole joint or just a hit or two? Were they smoking high grade kind bud? Did the participants smoke every day prior to the study or only a few times a year?

I remain skeptical.

[roseBudd]

14. Now if I had not smoked any weed for 4 months & then had some, I would not drive

[Bennyboy]

10. My own personal observations..

I drive, For a living. In the past, is drove 200 miles a day, everyday, then drove to the far reaches of the US on my time off. I have been an errand boy, a delivery driver, a gofer,a contractor with 40 employees and no cell phone (you had to visit every job site every day), and a contractor who had to visit every area of the ever growing Sacramento Valley. So I drive. A lot.

And I drive stoned. Almost always. I take a couple of puffs here and there. Or I puff a fatty. Or maybe eat a edible.

It don't do shit as far as my driving is concerned. I have exactly ZERO accidents since I was a teenager. Not one ticket since 85 (Except for the DUI I got in a drive thru) I swerve out of the way of falling trees, as well as the deer I just missed last night on the darkest stretch of Highway 49, etc. In fact, I think it makes me a better driver. I am way more into the driving, more aware of my surroundings. I never ever speed. I am courteous. And I am thinking ahead.

But take the weed away and I get cranky. I tend to have a more aggressive attitude. I am not in the driving zone so much, but doing other things that are taking my mind off driving.

Once we see the truth, we can stop parading this myth around as fact.

But studies involving cannabis are illegal, due to cannabis being a schedule I narcotic. So the US studies are not out there. but in The UK, Australia and other countries that have tested driving on cannabis, the studies confirm that is it no more harmful that fast food, and among certain demographics, is beneficial do drive.

BTW< I think you need to get stoned so you remember what it was like..cuz for me you sound like someone that kind of forgot.

[Jackpine Radical]

15. Except for those who might use it if it were legal

but avoid it because they don't like taking risks with being busted. Lots of people who might otherwise use don't because the penalties (e.g. loss of professional licenses, etc.) are so high if they are caught.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Oh, piffle. Stoned drivers go like 5 mph. The only danger they pose is someone ramming them.

[freebrew]

12. I drink and drive, so what?

I do it at home in my driveway, not public roads, so don't get so upset.

Just as with any substance, alcohol, pot, opium have different effects on different people.
That's the reason some folk get upset over limiting their freedom to drink, smoke or drive.

When I was younger, there was no negative connotation in drinking and driving. The people doing it were normal folk that had a few too many and decided to drive home. It wasn't a big deal. Really. Today, the roads are overcrowded and much more difficult to maneuver. So, the laws were enforced and then with the help of MADD, the laws were tightened to an extent that is over the top.
Thanks to studies sponsored by MADD, a drunk pedestrian, gets hit by a sober driver, and it's alcohol related. So goes the statistics.

The pot study is dead on. Smoking pot doesn't adversely affect driving abilities, it makes one more conscious of the act of driving. You may forget where you're going, but at least you'll get there safely.

[roseBudd]

13. When you drive stoned you drive to where you always drive (usually turning towards

work) missing the turn to where you intended to drive (shopping on the weekend). It sdometimes adds about 5 minutes to your commute.

[Igel]

16. You misinterpret the abstract.

The Olin study is looking at *sex* differences, how men and women respond to THC, and found no differences. It was not primarily looking at men and women and how they drove sober and stoned.

"Under the influence of marijuana, participants decreased their speed and failed to show expected practice effects during a distracted drive." They slowed down. But during a distracted drive the practice they had--learning how to respond during distracted driving--had no effect. In other words, they couldn't apply when stoned what they had learned when sober.

Main finding: No sex differences.

Minor finding: No difference stoned or sober in normal and collision-avoidance tasks.

For that, there's the second study cited. However, the second study cited show no effects 24 hours after the dose.

Both showed that stoned drivers (at least under the influence of THC) drove more slowly, while drunk drivers drove faster.

Note that other studies *have* shown significantly impaired response times 24 hours after a dose of THC. Different study designs are better at finding different effects.

Advocates aren't unbiased. Otherwise they wouldn't be advocates.

[dem mba]

17. yes, that's how i read it

but I couldn't quite articulate it as well as you did. Thanks.

[Bennyboy]

18. Some more studies

To date, the result of this research is very consistent:
Marijuana has a measurable yet relatively mild effect on psychomotor skills, yet it does not appear to play a significant role in vehicle crashes, particularly when compared to alcohol

READ MORE: www.miqel.com/reading_library/archived_stories/feel-free-to-drive-on-weed.html

1999 Canadian Study

The conclusion of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs in 2002 was:
"Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving."

"This report has summarized available research on cannabis and driving. Evidence of impairment from the consumption of cannabis has been reported by studies using laboratory tests, driving simulators and on-road observation. ... Both simulation and road trials generally find that driving behavior shortly after consumption of larger doses of cannabis results in (i) a more cautious driving style; (ii) increased variability in lane position (and headway); and (iii) longer decision times. Whereas these results indicate a 'change' from normal conditions, they do not necessarily reflect 'impairment' in terms of performance effectiveness since few studies report increased accident risk.
– Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, 2002


READ MORE:http://www.cannabisfacts.ca/druggeddriving.html

And another: http://www.ukcia.org/research/driving/01.php