Pubdate: Wed, 30 Sep 2015
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2015 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Ashley Halsey III

DRUGS RIVAL ALCOHOL AS FACTOR IN HIGHWAY DEATHS, REPORT FINDS

Rise in Prescription Medication Use Also Blamed

Police said Ronald Hayes Jr. was high on drugs and alcohol and 
desperate to escape officers in Prince George's County, Md., when he 
ran a red light and smashed into the side of a minivan filled with 
women and children, killing two of them.

Kendall Owens admitted to police that he was high on PCP and 
marijuana when he caused a multi-car crash that killed one driver and 
injured six others on Long Island. And Adrianna M. Young tested 
positive for marijuana, police said, after her car careened off an 
Ohio road, crashing into a house and killing a woman sitting on her couch.

Drunk drivers have long been the scourge of the roadways, and they 
still are, but now drivers on drugs are becoming a menace that rivals 
them, according to a new federal report.

A quadrupling in the use of prescription drugs since 1999, and 
legalization of marijuana use in some states are cited among the 
reasons drug use has become an increasing threat to roadway safety, 
according to a report released today by the Governors Highway Safety 
Association, an organization of state highway safety officers.

According to the study, drugs were found in the systems of almost 40 
percent of fatally injured drivers who were tested for them. That 
rivals the number of drivers who died with alcohol in their system.

The number of dead drivers who tested positive for drugs has 
increased from 29 percent in 2005 to 39.9 percent in 2013, the report 
said, citing federal crash data.

The report draws on federal data again, in this case from National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration roadside surveys, as evidence 
that illegal drug use and the use of prescription medications have 
increased in the past five years.

"We look to the federal government to take a leadership role in this 
issue similar to that of drunk driving and seat-belt use," said 
Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety 
Association.

Marijuana is legal in some form in 23 states and the District of 
Columbia, while other states are considering legalization.

"Every state must take steps to reduce drug-impaired driving, 
regardless of the legal status of marijuana," Adkins said. "We 
encourage NHTSA to issue guidance on best practices to prevent 
marijuana-impaired driving."

The GHSA report cited three other studies that differed somewhat in 
linking marijuana law changes to traffic fatalities. One found that 
was there an increased marijuana presence in fatally injured drivers 
in only three of 14 states studied. Another focusing on Colorado said 
that marijuana-positive fatalities increased by about 4 percent. The 
third, in California, found no change after marijuana was 
decriminalized there in 2011.

Driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal in all states.

The governors group report concludes that, "Marijuana is by far the 
most common drug that is used, found in roadside surveys, and found 
in fatally-injured drivers. Marijuana use by drivers likely increases 
after a state permits recreational marijuana use."

The report said the common practice of combining drugs and alcohol 
results in "dramatically impaired driving performance."

In surveys and focus groups done in two states - Colorado and 
Washington - regular marijuana users said they felt their habit did 
not impair their ability to drive and, in some cases, improved it.

"They believed that they can compensate for any effects of marijuana, 
for instance by driving more slowly or by allowing greater headways," 
the GHSA report said. "They believed it is safer to drive after using 
marijuana than after drinking alcohol."

The GHSA report said police officers should be better trained to 
identify drivers who are high on drugs. Roadside enforcement also 
would be helped, the report said, by widespread use of saliva devices 
that test for drug use.

The report said the devices identify most commonly used drugs, are 
available for about $20 per use, "are not intrusive" and produce 
results in less than five minutes.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom