http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/Myth: Marijuana Use is a Major Cause Of Highway Accidents. Like alcohol, marijuana impairs psychomotor function and decreases driving ability. If marijuana use increases, an increase in of traffic fatalities is inevitable.
Fact: There is no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes substantially to traffic accidents and fatalities. At some doses, marijuana affects perception and psychomotor performances- changes which could impair driving ability. However, in driving studies, marijuana produces little or no car-handling impairment- consistently less than produced by low moderate doses of alcohol and many legal medications. In contrast to alcohol, which tends to increase risky driving practices, marijuana tends to make subjects more cautious. Surveys of fatally injured drivers show that when THC is detected in the blood, alcohol is almost always detected as well. For some individuals, marijuana may play a role in bad driving. The overall rate of highway accidents appears not to be significantly affected by marijuana's widespread use in society.
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/driving/ddimp.htmDrugs and Driving Impairment
http://www.ccguide.org.uk/driving.phpArthur J. McBay (canoe@med.unc.edu)
Forensic Toxicology Consultant
V-306 Carolina Meadows
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
ABSTRACT The objective of this review is to evaluate whether the results of blood drug concentrations could be used by expert witnesses as a basis for scientifically acceptable opinions on driving impairment in adversarial proceedings. Research findings on actual driving performance will be used whenever available.
The adverse effects on driving performance of one drug, alcohol has been well established. Experts can testify to its effects based upon blood and breath alcohol concentrations.
The effects of a few other drugs on actual driving performance have been compared to its likely effects at various blood alcohol concentrations (BACs).
In an actual driving study the impairing effects of the highest smoking dose of marijuana, 3.7% THC, never exceeded those of alcohol’s at BAC of 0.8 mg/mL.. Several studies came to the conclusion that it appears to be impossible to conclude anything about a driver’s impairment based on THC and THC-COOH blood concentrations. A study of chronic heavy marijuana users which included those who drove trucks, buses and taxis concluded that, no real consequence of prolonged use of the drug was uncovered. Amphetamines and cocaine can improve the performance of fatigued drivers.
http://www.ccguide.org.uk/driving.phpRESEARCH for a computer game company has found a small amount of cannabis could help players' performance, making them drive faster and safer.
The experiment was carried out for Acclaim Entertainment to see how cannabis would affect people playing its new game, Burnout. A group of 20 experienced games enthusiasts and drivers between 21 and 40 took part in the test to study reaction times, speed, concentration levels and road safety.
Ten of them then smoked about 0.15 milligrams of cannabis, or about half a "joint", while the other ten had had no stimulant for at least 72 hours prior to the test. They were then given a demonstration of Burnout and asked to take the controls.
The researchers say 80 per cent of those who had smoked cannabis demonstrated superior reaction times to those who had not. About 60 per cent finished a lap faster, while 70 per cent experienced a lower number of collisions, and more than half reached a higher level in the game.
When playing in competition with each other, the drivers who had smoked cannabis won eight out of the ten matches. The company claims drivers under the influence of cannabis appeared to have more confidence in their ability and be much calmer.
Simon Smith-Wright, Burnout's communications director, admitted the findings do not translate into real life, but insisted small amounts of the drug helped driving.
He said: "The results of our tests clearly indicate that a small or moderate amount of cannabis is actually quite beneficial to someone's driving performance.
IT'S official: smoking dope makes you a worse driver. But cannabis has less effect on driving ability than alcohol, according to a study by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
The Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions asked the TRL Safety Department to investigate the effect of cannabis intoxication on driving ability. Cannabis is by far the most common illegal drug found in the bloodstream of road accident victims, and THC-the active ingredient in cannabis-can remain in the body for more than a month.
Barry Sexton and his colleagues at the TRL recruited 15 volunteers to complete driving tests while under the influence of low or high doses of cannabis, or no drug at all. The volunteers either smoked readyrolled cannabis joints or rolled their own with resin supplied under government licence. They were then put through their paces on a sophisticated driving simulator.
The researchers measured their accuracy at steering the car, known as "tracking ability", and other psychomotor responses, such as hazard perception and braking responses. They took blood and saliva samples at regular intervals and also tested the subjects' coordination, balance and timing.
The first thing the researchers noticed was that the subjects drove more slowly under the influence of dope, compensating for their intoxication by driving more cautiously. Tracking ability was the only test criterion that was adversely affected: the volunteers found it very difficult to follow a figure-of-eight loop of road when given a high dose. Reaction times to motorway hazards and performance on cognitive tests in the lab were not significantly affected.
Trials previously completed under similar test conditions at the TRL have shown that alcohol and tiredness have a more adverse effect on driving ability, affecting higher cognitive processes. The results of the cannabis and driving study agree with similar research carried out in Australia, the US and Holland.
TAKING the high road may not be so dangerous after all. Ministers are set to be embarrassed by government-funded research which shows that driving under the influence of drugs makes motorists more cautious and has a limited impact on their risk of crashing.
In the study, conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory, "grade A" cannabis specially imported from America was given to 15 regular users. The doped- up drivers were then put through four weeks of tests on driving simulators to gauge reaction times and awareness.
Regular smokers were used because previous tests in America using first- timers resulted in the volunteers falling over and feeling ill. The laboratory found its guinea pigs through what it described as a "snowballing technique" - one known user was asked to find another after being promised anonymity and exemption from prosecution agreed with the Home Office.
Instead of proving that drug-taking while driving increased the risk of accidents, researchers found that the mellowing effects of cannabis made drivers more cautious and so less likely to drive dangerously.
Although the cannabis affected reaction time in regular users, its effects appear to be substantially less dangerous than fatigue or drinking. Research by the Australian Drugs Foundation found that cannabis was the only drug tested that decreased the relative risk of having an accident.
The findings will embarrass ministers at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) who commissioned the study after pressure from motoring organisations and anti-drug campaigners. Lord Whitty, the transport minister, will receive the report later this month.
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