Driving High

The "legalize marijuana because it's a harmless substance" advocates should sober themselves and read a new study on pot and driving.  Columbia University researchers performing a toxicology examination of nearly 24,000 driving fatalities concluded that marijuana contributed to 12% of traffic deaths in 2010, tripled from a decade earlier. And that's probably a low number in 2014, given five U .S. states have legalized pot since 2010. Sanctioning pot by making it legal, which seems the inevitable course in the U.S. will make more people drive while high.

Drivers under the age of 25 are said to have more reckless driving habits. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study conducted so far have found drugged driving to be particularly prevalent among younger motorists. One in eight high school seniors responding to a 2010 survey admitted to driving after smoking marijuana. Nearly a quarter of drivers killed in drug related car crashes were younger than 25. Likewise, nearly half of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for marijuana were younger than 25. Telling the under 25 year old  driver that pot is harmless and that it can be used legally is not a smart move by any U.S. state. And it makes the non pot user a little less safe when operating his or her vehicle.

Since the state of Colorado legalized pot, for instance, the number of driving fatalities and accidents has increased dramatically. I find it odd that the government here, so adamant and strict about enforcing  laws against alcohol related driving, would want to add another intoxicant to the list of legal substances in society. Sure, this study is old and may be flawed. For instance, were the pot drivers who caused the fatal accidents high on pot or just had lower than intoxicating levels in their system.

But in the end, I fell a little less safer on the road these days knowing that in many states the governments have given approval to smoking marijuana. Those same people drive automobiles and will feel less concerned about driving when high.