Pubdate: Fri, 10 Feb 2012
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html
Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Sharon Kirkey
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)
Referenced: Acute Cannabis Consumption and Motor Vehicle Collision 
Risk: Systematic Review of Observational Studies and Meta-Analysis: 
http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e536

POT USE DOUBLES RISK OF SERIOUS CAR CRASH

Driving under the influence of pot nearly doubles the risk of a 
serious or fatal car crash, a Canadian study finds.

The number of Canadians confessing to driving within an hour of using 
pot is growing, researchers from Dalhousie University write in this 
week's issue of the British Medical Journal.

In addition, "surveys of young drivers have also shown that rates of 
driving under the influence of cannabis have surpassed rates of 
drinking and driving in some jurisdictions," the Halifax team reports.

"Many young people really don't believe that cannabis impairs," said 
lead author Mark Asbridge, an associate professor in the department 
of community health and epidemiology at Dalhousie.

Past studies into cannabis and crash risk have been mixed. Some have 
found an increased risk of being involved in a collision after using 
marijuana, while others have found either no association whatsoever, 
or even a lower risk - suggesting people were actually safer driving 
while intoxicated by pot than not.

The Halifax team set out to disentangle the evidence. They found a 92 
per cent increased risk - a near doubling - of a driver being 
involved in a collision resulting in serious injury or death, to 
themselves or others, if they used marijuana within two to three 
hours of getting behind the wheel.

The strongest association was with fatal crashes.

Studies have shown that cannabis impairs the psychomotor skills 
needed for safe driving, Asbridge said. "There's actually a 
psychological process where people often believe that they're driving 
safer than they really are and they don't recognize that they're 
following too closely, or making these lane violations."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom