Do Medical-Marijuana Laws Save Lives on The Road?

(DOT HS 808 078), Final Report, November 1993:
"THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small"

Do Medical-Marijuana Laws Save Lives on The Road?
CN By Chris Berdik August 09, 2013 Boston Globe USA

As legal marijuana spreads across America, mostly for medical use, anxiety about its side effects is spreading with it: What other changes will it bring? Campaigns against loosening the law tend to focus on its unknown and possibly dangerous repercussions—a surge in pot smoking, perhaps opening the door to increased use of harder drugs and to associated spikes in crime and other societal ills.

Amid the heated debate, a small amount of hard data is starting to emerge. And among the most intriguing findings is a recent study suggesting that Massachusetts could enjoy an unexpected boon from last November’s vote to legalize medical marijuana: fewer deaths on our roads and highways.

A team of economists who specialize in health and risk behaviors looked at the link between marijuana laws and traffic deaths, and found that roadway fatalities dropped significantly in states after they legalized medical marijuana. On average, deaths dropped 8 to 11 percent in the first full year after the law went into effect, and fell 10 to 13 percent by year four. Five years out, the results grew more varied, and faded in some cases.

The study doesn’t include Massachusetts, whose medical-marijuana law just went into effect in May, well after the researchers had finished collecting and analyzing their data. But applied to Massachusetts’ most recent traffic fatality statistics, the study’s findings would roughly translate to about 35 lives saved per year. full story continued @ cannabis news

Cannabis use and Driving

Washington, DC: Recent allegations by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) that cannabis is a significant causal factor in on-road accidents and may adversely impact psychomotor skills up to 24 hours after past use are not supported by scientific evidence, said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre.

U.S. Traffic Deaths Drop to Historic Low
U.S. traffic fatalities are at a record low despite drivers traveling farther than they did in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study of traffic injuries and fatalities in 2009 found that 33,808 people were killed in vehicular accidents, which is a decline of 9.7 percent from 2008’s figures. In fact, you’d have to go all the way back to 1950 to find a year when fewer people were killed.

Keep in mind that there were only 44.7 million cars on U.S. roads in 1950 and a population of 150 million compared to today’s 255.9 million cars and a population of 310 million, according to the DOT. Which means that the probability of being involved in an auto fatality is dramatically lower than it was nearly 60 years ago.

Marijuana use, as indicated by the presence of cannabis metabolites, is not associated with crash culpability among injured drivers, according to data presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.
Positive Marijuana Result Not Associated With Auto Crash Culpability
September 29, 2005 - Baltimore, MD, USA
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin

Paranoid Pot Smokers Drive More Carefully
Alcohol Impairs Driving More Than Marijuana
Cannabis May Make You a Safer Driver

MARIJUANA DOES NOT CAUSE RECKLESS DRIVING
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and certain Wisconsin legislators have launched a new crusade against "drugged driving," with a heavy emphasis on marijuana. This crusade is largely based on scientific misinformation, and it could lead to the enactment of bad laws.

US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Reports

Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance - by Robbe, NHTSA, 1993
Marijuana Use And Driving, by Robbe 1994
Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance - by Robbe, NHTSA, 1999

Drugged Driving… Putting Science In Prison
I just completed a 30 day trial of daily dosages of over 1.2g of Cannabis oil a day and I am now convinced that THC metabolites do mitigate the effects of THC. Colorado just started a “Drugged Driving Is Impaired Driving” campaign that is completely propagandist. To infer that someone had an accident because they have Cannabis in their system does not mean it caused the accident, that is absurd to think that way. Look at the science and stop profiling us.