Federal Study: Marijuana Use Doesn't Increase Auto Crash Rates

An anonymous reader writes: After the legalization of marijuana in multiple states around the U.S., many are worried about a corresponding uptick in car crashes as people drive while under the influence of pot. But according to a new federal study (PDF) commissioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, those fears seem unfounded. They report that after adjusting for other factors (people who tend to drive after using marijuana also tend to be more crash-prone in general), there was no statistically significant increase in crash rates by drivers who tested positive for the drug. It's still a bad idea to drive high, but driving drunk is far, far worse: "One substance was shown to have a major influence on crashes: alcohol. The study confirmed the enormous danger of drinking and driving, even after age and sex adjustment: drivers with a 0.05% blood-alcohol level were found to be twice as likely to be in a crash. For a person weighing 180 to 190 pounds, that could be a single can of beer, glass of wine, or shot of liquor. At 0.08% (two drinks), the likelihood is quadrupled, and at .20% (four drinks or more), the risk is higher by 23 times."

Comments

Re:But, but, you're using logic and science

[Rockoon]

Drunk drivers run through stop signs.
High drivers wait for the stop signs to turn green.

Re:But, but, you're using logic and science

[DarkOx]

PJ Orourke had the best answer to drunk driving ever:

The answer isn't more cops. The answer is more drugs. Give those young men some peyote and mescaline and LSD with their beer and watch their bravery vanish. Mile markers jump out from the berm, hopping on their single legs and forming into packs. Their rectangular, numbered heads flash with green reflective menace. The centerline rises from the pavement. The giant yellow-striped serpent coils to strike. Meanwhile, a highway overpass gapes-the jaws of hell. Abandon all joyriding ye who enter here. Those young men will be crawling down I-40 at fifteen miles an hour the way I was forty years ago.

Re:But, but, you're using logic and science

[Ol Olsoc]

Any time someone responds to a study with the general statement "They are wrong, I have an anecdote to prove it!" should be tagged and forever prohibited from participating in discussions or weighing in on decisions on the topic.

I knew a guy once who agreed completely with you. I do too.