Marijuana A Great Danger on the Road
After years of public service announcements, education campaigns, crosses and wreaths along highways and the plain, hard facts – everyone knows that drinking and driving is dangerous. The public still may have much to learn about the dangers of smoking marijuana and getting behind the wheel however. A medical journal study published in Britain raises the issue by claiming that using marijuana practically doubles a driver’s risk of being involved in a traffic accident.
The study has been referenced in recent news because, although many of their conclusions still need further research, the British research team says that ignorance about the dangers of marijuana use make it a leading cause of injury and death on highways around the globe. In fact, according to the medical journal report, marijuana is the number one drug behind vehicular fatalities and crash injuries. Those involved in the study based their conclusions on examination of nine prior studies that looked at marijuana use and car accidents.
The report suggested a couple of reasons why marijuana use is dangerous to drivers. To begin with, marijuana negatively impacts a driver’s ability to properly judge spatial relationships. This impairment means that marijuana users will tend to weave in and out of traffic or follow too closely behind other vehicles. On top of this, the report suggests that marijuana users tend to over-estimate their own level of impairment. The researchers compared those who over-consume alcohol to marijuana users.
The person who has had too much to drink typically can feel that they are not in good shape to operate a vehicle – they have a sense of their own impairment. By contrast, the researchers suggest that marijuana users regularly seem oblivious to their impaired judgment and ability. In some cases, when a group is out, the drinkers will assign a person who has been smoking pot to be the designated driver.
The studies cited by the British team were not controlled studies and therefore, more work needs to be done, but at least a red flag has been waved to draw attention to the issue.
