Another Kind Of Dui

[mopsie]

For more than two decades, the message has been as deafening as an ambulance siren: Don't drink and drive.

With prom season under way and graduation parties next, schools have shifted into high gear. Mock accidents. Breathalyzer screens. Mothers Against Drunk Driving assemblies.

But experts say not enough attention is being paid to another risky behavior: driving under the influence of drugs such as marijuana. Known as "drugging and driving," it is nearly as prevalent as drinking and driving, researchers say.

"Kids just don't see it as all that risky," said Stephen Wallace, national head of Students Against Destructive Decisions, a peer advocacy group based in Marlborough, Mass.

"We've done a great job of educating young people and parents about the dangers of drinking and driving," Wallace said. "We need to ramp up our efforts on drugging and driving."

Though SADD and law enforcement agencies believe, without a doubt, that driving while drugged contributes to accidents, it is a "phantom menace," Wallace said.

Data collection has begun only recently, and it is often incomplete.

In 2004, at least 9 percent of roughly 17,100 drivers tested for drugs after being involved in a fatal crash came up positive for marijuana, according to statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration.

But many drug test results go unreported, and testing methodology is not uniform. Researchers also say people may register positive for marijuana use up to two weeks after using the drug.

Furthermore, drivers who are found to be intoxicated are rarely given a second test for the presence of drugs. As a result, those who are dually impaired can go undetected.

Unlike most drugs, evidence of marijuana use lingers in the body. It takes eight days to eliminate 90 percent of it, according to a study cited by Wilkie Wilson, professor of pharmacology at Duke University and co-author of Buzzed: The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy.

Researchers say that marijuana, which has become more potent over the years, affects judgment, concentration, perception, coordination and reaction time - all skills needed for safe driving. The greatest risk is in the first 24 hours.

"If you're smoking marijuana, you have no business driving," Wilson said.

Conventional wisdom among teens "is that kids can drive after smoking marijuana, that they have a little more control" than they do after drinking, said Patrick O'Malley, a research professor at the University of Michigan, who is involved in the "Monitoring the Future" survey of U.S. high school students.

In 2004, O'Malley said that 13 percent of seniors reported driving after drinking. The same percentage acknowledged driving after smoking marijuana.

In a study of injured drivers at a Baltimore trauma unit, conducted in 2003, marijuana was the most popular companion drug to alcohol, especially among those under 35, said psychologist J. Michael Walsh, president of the Walsh Group, a Bethesda, Md., consultancy involved in the research.

That finding is worrisome, Walsh said, because marijuana combined with a beer or two can produce a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit in many states.

The study concluded that driver-safety initiatives that focus solely on alcohol overlook the role of drugs in a "significant proportion" of crashes.

That has started to change. A "Steer Clear of Pot" campaign, sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control, was launched in December 2004.

States have also been encouraged to test drivers in accidents for drug use. That is still rarely done, largely because there is no Breathalyzer equivalent for roadside drug testing.

Others are lobbying to make it a crime to have any level of an illegal drug in one's system while driving. Only 13 states have such a law.

Groups such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( NORML ), which lobbies for legalization of the drug, are concerned that campaigns focused on drugged driving may be linked to efforts to further criminalize pot. NORRL urges members not to drive impaired, said Allen St. Pierre, the group's executive director.


SOURCE MAPT USA

[IHrtHalucingens]

SWIM and his friends drive drugged all the time, many times they go on blunt rides through the country on back roads where they encounter few people and can enjoy the sights while driving slowly down the road. SWIM and his friends are very into sports cars and all have them, and besides the times they are driving slow because they are enjoying a smoke, they are usually exceding the speed limit. So this means smoking marijuana makes them safer drivers, from a behavioralist point of view, which is what really matters in regards to this subject. And as for the DUI for marijuana SWIM can contest to that as he has been charged with that after being pulled over, marijuana being found in his car, and testing positive for marijuana in his system. Which was from previous instances as he hadnt even smoked yet that day.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good anser

[enquirewithin]

Driving under the influence of alchohol is obviously much more dangerous than driving under the influence of pot. Driving whilst tired or stressed is probably more dangerous than driving under the influence of pot. Driving with a clear mind must be safer though!

[radiometer]

I think it's good to remind teenagers (and adults) that driving under the influence of marijuana can be dangerous. That said, it has been proven in trials to be far less dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good point. It is not safe to recommend such actions.

[aether_demon]

SWIM also agrees that driving under the influence of marijuana actually renders him a safer driver. SWIM habitually speeds and notices that when he smokes and drives he always goes much slower than normal because he thinks he's going faster...unless he makes the consciess decision to speed.

[snapper]

Just because some people can drive intoxicated with no problems, doesn't mean others can. Laws are set to the lowest common denominator, and there area plenty of those !
However, that said, SWIM feels that driving is not compromised at all when the driver is a regular user (except sometimes navigation). SWIM could imagine that smoking a joint of something strong after abstaining for a long time would surely make you a dangerous driver. However, the other thing about weed is it makes you paranoid, so if you were too stoned to drive, you probably wouldn't want to. Alcohol endows users with a false sense of confidence, which is why they drive while blotto.

Snapper

Reputation Comments on this post:

[Lunar Loops]

Not at all sure that SWIS would agree with any of this. Whilst driving under the influence of marijuana may not be as dangerous as drving under the influence of alcohol it still impairs ability. SWIS has done it in the past, but is not particularly proud of that. It felt like no problem at the time and SWIS felt in full control, but the fact of the matter is that reaction times are slowed and whilst you may forget where you are going, just ambling along enjoying the ride, you may also forget other simple driving procedures.

Safest way to drive is straight (no pun intended) and there can be no real argument with that.

[IHrtHalucingens]

Agreed. However when SWIM drives high he accounts for slower reaction time by reducing speed enough to give himself time to react. SWIM is not saying that anyone and everyone can go out and drive high and be fine, but in his own experience it makes him a safer driver. Both to enjoy the scenery and experience of being high as well as to prevent himself from attracting unwanted police attention while possessing marijuana and/or paraphenalia.