Pubdate: Sat, 28 Mar 2015
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Jim Kenzie
Page: W10
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)

DRIVING WHILE STONED IS SIMPLY A DUMB IDEA

Relaxation of Marijuana Laws Pushes Forward Same Debate Society Had 
With Alcohol

We Need Laws That Treat Marijuana Use While Driving Just As Severely 
As Alcohol, Writes Jim Kenzie.

Without doubt, one of the greatest public health successes of the 
past forty years has been the reduction in traffic deaths.

We've more than halved the death toll in that time frame, from more 
than 5,000 to about 2,100 per year, despite significantly more 
kilometres driven.

Now, 2,100 deaths is exactly 2,100 too many. Still, Parachute - 
Canada's leading injury prevention organization - estimates that 
"accidental trauma," largely but not exclusively car crashes, is the 
number one killer of people aged 1 to 44 in this country.

After that threshold, age-related diseases like cancer and heart 
disease and, disturbingly, suicide, begin to take larger roles. But 
car crashes disproportionately take the lives of younger citizens, so 
on a "person-years-lost" basis, auto crashes remain among the most 
serious public health issue we face.

The decrease in traffic deaths is largely due to increased seat belt 
use, from about 20 per cent in the mid-1970s, when Canada passed the 
mandatory-use law, to about 95 per cent today. Sure, stronger, more 
crash-resistant cars, ABS (anti-lock brakes), ESC (electronic 
stability control systems), better tires and air bags have all played 
a part. But it has been mostly seat belts.

Another factor has been the fight against drunk driving.

Accurate statistics are hard to come by for every jurisdiction, but a 
recent report in Time magazine suggested that 35.9 per cent of 
night-time drivers in the United States had some alcohol in their 
system in 1973; by 2007, that figure had dropped to just 12.4 per 
cent. Canadian numbers surely aren't far off.

Many jurisdictions now believe that distracted driving, notably cell 
phone usage, has become a bigger traffic killer even than alcohol.

But another substance abuse issue is becoming increasingly important 
- - marijuana.

A different American study looked at the first decade of this century 
and found that some 12 per cent of drivers killed had some marijuana 
in their system - yes, about the same as alcohol.

Whether marijuana was a contributing factor to those deaths is hard 
to tell; we know far more about what alcohol does and how it effects 
driving ability. But I bet many of those dead drivers had both 
alcohol and pot in their systems, surely not a cocktail with a 
positive outcome.

The increased availability of the drug as laws become more permissive 
suggests these fata;out numbers are going to keep getting higher, if 
you pardon the expression.

Driving while high is simply a bad idea. Reduced awareness, impaired 
decision-making ability, limited vision and sluggish reflexes - a 
million comedy sketches can't be wrong.

The munchies will probably make you fat too.

Among the problems surrounding this issue:

No-one has a really good idea of exactly how bad an idea driving high 
actually is. Nor do we know how much THC, what you might say is the 
"inactivating" ingredient in weed, is the defining amount for 
criminally poor driving, unlike say 0.05 or 0.08 blood alcohol content level.

Some U.S. states and countries including New Zealand have adopted a 
zero-tolerance policy - "none" is the only passing grade. In 
alcohol-use cases, tough limits have traditionally been hard to 
enforce, as judges often question whether a tiny amount could have 
any effect. And until recently, there was no road-side means to 
quickly determine how stoned someone is, as there is for alcohol.

Currently, the "walk a straight line" and "touch your nose" type of 
roadside techniques used as "reasonable cause" filters by traffic 
police require a trip to the station and a time-consuming and 
expensive blood test to determine an accurate THC blood level.

Cannibix Technologies, run by a former RCMP officer named Kal Malhi, 
is working on a marijuana detection device. Once perfected, it should 
be able to detect if marijuana has been used within the last couple 
of hours, when the effects of pot are considered most likely to 
affect performance.

It could do for smoking up what the breathalyzer did for drinking - 
simply make it easier to get nailed, hence not worth the risk.

However, it is known that THC leaves the bloodstream fairly quickly 
and settles in fatty tissues and in the brain, where it might still 
affect performance long after it would be detectable by a cannabis 
breathalyzer.

And a detection device will also face all the same moral, ethical and 
legal issues the alcohol breathalyzer did - human rights violations, 
differences in absorption rates amongst differ genders, body sizes 
and types, concerns about proper use by police officers and the like.

And there will still be the issue of, "How much is too much?" 
Research continues, but a consensus seems a fair distance off.

Of one thing you can be sure: you will be hearing a lot more about 
high driving in the very near future.

A TV ad now being shown in pot-friendly Colorado might soon be coming 
to a TV set near you.

It shows a stereotypically confused, long-haired dude repeatedly 
pushing a button, trying unsuccessfully to light his barbecue. The 
underlying graphic points out, "Grilling high is now legal. Driving 
to get the propane you forgot isn't."

So, get straight, sober up, and drive.

Oh yeah - and don't answer your damned cell phone.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom