If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling?

[The General]

A study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology last month found that 12.2% of drivers killed by car crashes in six states tested positive for cannabinol, a marijuana metabolite, in 2010, up from 4.2% in 1999. Here is how NBC News translated that finding in the headline over a story posted on Saturday: "Pot Fuels Surge in Drugged Driving Deaths." The article, which begins by describing the deaths of a Colorado woman and her infant son in a crash caused by "a driver who admitted he smoked pot that day," links the purported surge in marijuana-related traffic fatalities to laws allowing medical use of cannabis. "As medical marijuana sales expanded into 20 states," writes health reporter Bill Briggs, "legal weed was detected in the bodies of dead drivers three times more often during 2010 when compared to those who died behind the wheel in 1999." There are several problems with reading the trend described by this study as evidence that legalizing medical marijuana causes an increase in fatal car crashes:

The fact that cannabinol was detected in a driver's blood does not mean he was under the influence at the time of the crash, let alone that marijuana caused the crash. "It is possible for a driver to test positive for cannabinol in the blood up to 1 week after use," the researchers note. "Thus, the prevalence of nonalcohol drugs reported in this study should be interpreted as an indicator of drug use, not necessarily a measurement of drug impairment."

Only three of the six states included in the study (which were chosen because they routinely do drug testing on drivers killed in crashes) have medical marijuana laws: California, Hawaii, and Rhode Island. Traffic fatalities fell by more than 20% nationwide during the study period, even as "medical marijuana sales expanded." Between enactment of its medical marijuana law in 1996 and 2010, California saw a 31% drop in traffic fatalities. The number of traffic fatalities also fell in Hawaii and Rhode Island after they legalized medical marijuana–by 14% and 21%, respectively.

A study published last year by the Journal of Law & Economics found that adoption of medical marijuana laws is associated with a decline in traffic fatalities, possibly because people in those states are substituting marijuana for alcohol, which has a more dramatic impact on driving ability. Briggs mentions that study in the 17th paragraph of his article.

It is important to keep these points in mind as more states liberalize their marijuana laws, especially since "preventing drugged driving" is one of the "enforcement priorities" that the Justice Department says might justify federal interference with legalization in Colorado and Washington. If "drugged driving" means operating a motor vehicle with any detectable amount of cannabinol in your blood, "drugged driving" inevitably will rise after legalization as consumption rises. But having cannabinol in your blood is not the same as being intoxicated. And even if the share or absolute number of traffic fatalities caused by marijuana-related impairment rises, the total number of fatal accidents could still drop thanks to substitution effects. Regardless of what happens with traffic fatalities, the possibility of marijuana-related accidents is a reason for discouraging people from driving while impaired, not a reason for prohibiting the drug altogether.

News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Forbes.com
Author: Jacob Sullum
Contact: Contact Information - Forbes
Website: If Medical Marijuana Laws Cause A 'Surge in Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling? - Forbes

 

[akaman]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

Cmon give it a rest already! Anyone who smokes mj ( I've been smoking for 29 years, just as long as I've been driving) knows that it does NOT impair your ability to operate a motor vehicle. The powers that be will do and say ANYTHING to keep mj illegal, it doesn't matter that the plant can help with a variety of ailments in adults and children. When you look around the world at all the countries that are finally realizing the medical potential that mj has and you look at the united states, all you can do is shake your head in disgust. I for one would gladly leave to live in a country where common sense prevails.

 

[corners]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

the difference is if high most of the time you wouldn't even feel like wanting to drive and would stay put.

People that are drunk dont mind driving sometimes and are looking for the next exciting thing going on somewhere.

People that are high just want to make sure we got enough food in the fridge so we dont have to drive anywhere.

 

[corners]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

Cmon give it a rest already! Anyone who smokes mj ( I've been smoking for 29 years, just as long as I've been driving) knows that it does NOT impair your ability to operate a motor vehicle. The powers that be will do and say ANYTHING to keep mj illegal, it doesn't matter that the plant can help with a variety of ailments in adults and children. When you look around the world at all the countries that are finally realizing the medical potential that mj has and you look at the united states, all you can do is shake your head in disgust. I for one would gladly leave to live in a country where common sense prevails.

I would love to do a study of driving for this.I agree with you akaman, for most people it has little to no effect. Maybe for people that dont smoke much, but even then they wont want to drive themselves.

For someone that smokes daily you couldnt tell

 

[420 Motoco]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

IMHO just more misinformation on MJ to keep it in the basement. Think this bs started with the DEA office.

 

[akaman]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

IMHO just more misinformation on MJ to keep it in the basement. Think this bs started with the DEA office.

actually I believe randolph hearst had alot to do with it, a newspaper owner, Hearst was a newspaper tycoon, and he launched a propaganda campaign against cannabis (or marijuana), claiming that its use incited criminal behavior and insanity. He owned a substantial interest in the timber industry at the time DuPont Chemical was perfecting a new chemical treatment for wood pulp paper. Hemp paper (i.e. paper made from marijuana) was better than wood pulp paper in that it was more durable and recyclable, without any chemical treatment needed. So it all came down to the money, hearst stood to lose his shirt behind hemp

 

[toker69]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

I think urban legend is Hearst stood to lose because of his logging, and wood pulping business, but the DuPont connection was nylon rope replacing hemp rope, but the real story is cannabis was primarily being used by Blacks, and Latinos, and it was a easy way to violate their rights, and incarcerate them, and it still is!

 

[akaman]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

I think urban legend is Hearst stood to lose because of his logging, and wood pulping business, but the DuPont connection was nylon rope replacing hemp rope, but the real story is cannabis was primarily being used by Blacks, and Latinos, and it was a easy way to violate their rights, and incarcerate them, and it still is!

two years before the prohibitive hemp tax in 1937, DuPont developed a new synthetic fiber, nylon, which was an ideal substitute for hemp rope but instead the year after the tax was passed DuPont came out with rayon, which was unable to compete with the strength of hemp fiber or its economical process of manufacturing. I find it hard to believe that in the 30's mj was used primarily by Blacks and Latinos. As you can see by the chart Whites were a super majority in the 30's. I agree it was a easy way to violate Black and Latino rights, and incarcerate them, and it still is but there is no way in hell toker, that it was primarily used by Black and Latinos with a 1930 census showing the huge percentage of Whites vs everybody else.

Total Population 122,775,046 100%
White 108,864,207 88.7%
Negro 11,891,143 9.7%
Mexican 1,422,533 1.2%
Indian 332,397 0.3%
Chinese 74,954 0.1%
Japanese 138,834 0.1%
Filipino 45,208
Hindu 3,130
Korean 1,860
Hawaiian 660
Malay 96
Siamese 18
Samoan 6
Total Population 122,775,046 100%


We can expect strong opposition from companies like DuPont and paper manufacturerss but the selfishness of these corporations should not prevent its use in our society like it did in the 1930's. Regardless of what these organizations will say about marijuana, the fact is it has the potential to become one of the most useful substances in the entire world. If we took action and our government legalized it today, we would immediately see benefits from this decision. People suffering from illnesses ranging from manic depression to multiple sclerosis would be able to experience relief, the government could make a fortune off of the taxes it could impose on its sale, and its implementation into the industrial world would create thousands of new jobs for the economy. Also, because of its role in paper making, the rain forests of South America could be saved from their current fate. No recorded deaths have ever occurred as a result of marijuana use, it is not physically addictive like alcohol or tobacco, and most doctors will agree it is safer to use.

Just something to think about my friend

 

[toker69]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

So the census numbers in prison populations should match the numbers in populations right? So how does your census data theory prove itself out with todays census numbers? I see a repeat of anecdotal evidence offered as proof that it's not an urban legend, but nothing substantial offered other than census data, and coincidence. It's well known Hearst nearly went bankrupt in the 30's buying canadian paper, and even had to sell off his private art collection to stay afloat. Cheap hemp paper would have saved him money so how exactly was it to his financial benefit? The connection to DuPont is a speculation of coincidence. No real proof of such a connection exists. The smell of burning cannabis has always been an easy red flag for authorities to investigate further. It allowed, and still allows police to do otherwise illegal searches, and arrests. Everyone knows how that plays out. Even in todays society it means prisons full of Blacks, and Latinos.

 

[akaman]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

Toker let me explain this ...the first part of my answer to you was actually intended for Motoco 1982 who mention it might have started with the dea. The second part which included the chart was for you and the comment you made about Blacks and Latino's being the primary users of mj. I took it for granted you meant back in the 30's where there were hardly any Latino's and 3x as many Whites

 

[toker69]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

Still I see no proof offered to substantiate the claims made about Hearst, and DuPont. The DuPont story if true would would lead with the evidence found, and not just dates of the invention of nylon, and rayon. Most white cannabis smoking liberals prefer the romantic nature of the evil corporation stories over the reality of racism being the primary factor. I don't mind. I see the violation of rights as the most important, and real part. It was true back then, and is still true today. The smell of cannabis opens doors to authorities that should remain closed. After that it's a game of catch, and release at the discretion of police. The ones who pay the highest price are the people of color. That's simply true, and everyone knows it.

 

[akaman]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

Toker, this article ties hearst and dupont together( 3rd paragraph). If this doesnt do it for you I don't know what will In the early days of our nation, the hemp plant (a.k.a. cannabis) proved a valuable resource for hundreds of years, instrumental in the making of fabric, paper and other necessities. This changed during the Industrial Revolution, which rendered tree-pulp papermaking and synthetic fibers more cost-effective through the rise of assembly line manufacturing methods. A more efficient way of utilizing hemp was a bit slower in coming.It was not until the early 1930's that a new technique for using hemp pulp for papermaking was developed by the Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with the patenting of the hemp decorticator (a machine that revolutionized the harvesting of hemp). These innovations promised to reduce the cost of producing hemp-pulp paper to less than half the cost of tree-pulp paper. Since hemp is an annually renewable source, which requires minimal chemical treatment to process, the advent of hemp pulp paper would allegedly have been better for the environment than the sulfuric acid wood-pulping process. Hemp had many champions, who predicted that its abundance and versatility would soon revitalize the American economy. William Randolph Hearst, media mogul, billionaire and real-life model for Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, had different ideas. His aggressive efforts to demonize cannabis were so effective, they continue to color popular opinion today.In the early 1930's, Hearst owned a good deal of timber acreage; one might say that he had the monopoly on this market. The threatened advent of mass hemp production proved a considerable threat to his massive paper-mill holdings -- he stood to lose many, many millions of dollars to the lowly hemp plant. Hearst cleverly utilized his immense national network of newspapers and magazines to spread wildly inaccurate and sensational stories of the evils of cannabis or "marihuana," a phrase brought into the common parlance, in part due to frequent mentions in his publications.


The sheer number of newspapers, tabloids, magazines and film reels that Hearst controlled enabled him to quickly and to effectively inundate American media with this propaganda. Hearst preyed on existing prejudices by associating cannabis with Mexican workers who threatened to steal American jobs and African-Americans who had long been the subject of white American venom (see accompanying articles). An ironic side-note: much of this racism had already been perpetrated by the propaganda of Hearst, an unabashed racist. The American people had already developed irrational hatred for these racial groups, and so readily accepted the ridiculous stories of their crazed crimes incited by marihuana use.


Hearst was not alone in his scheme to destroy hemp production. The new techniques also made hemp a viable option for fabric and plastics, two areas of manufacturing which together with paper seriously threatened DuPont chemicals, which at this time specialized in the chemical manufacturing of synthetic fiber and plastics, and the process of pulping paper. In fact, Hearst and Lammont DuPont had a multi-million dollar deal in the works for joint papermaking. So these two moguls, together with DuPont's banker, Andrew Mellon, bravely joined forces to stave off the bitter onrush of bankruptcy. They combined Hearst's yellow journalism campaign (so called because the paper developed through his and DuPont's methods aged prematurely) and the appointment of Mellon's nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to Commissioner of the newly created Federal Bureau of Narcotics in order to successfully stamp out the threat of hemp

 

[toker69]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

The first state that outlawed marijuana was California in 1913 then Utah in 1914. Well before Hearst's campaign. The kraft process invented by Carl F. Dahl in 1879 was combined with the invention of the recovery boiler by G.H. Tomlinson in the early 1930s. By 1937 it was the predominant method of producing paper, and still is to this day. Is the Hearst corporation raking in the windfall share of paper production? The technology for hemp pulp for papermaking was invented in 1916. George Schlichten received a U.S. patent on his improvements of the decorticator for treating fiber bearing plants. Schlichten "failed to find investors" for production of his decorticator and died as a broken man in 1923! Yet somehow Hearst needed a campaign to stop the device in the 30's? Almost 50 years after the invention of the decorticator? The assumption that Hearst campaigns purpose was to kill a cheaper way of making paper is like saying Nike wanted to stop shoe manufacturer in China, because it saw a cheaper labor force, and was heavily invested in american factories. In business a cheaper way means greater profit. If Hearst really felt a cheaper way was hemp he would have invested in hemp.

 

[toker69]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

Hearst hated minorities, and he used his chain of newspapers to aggravate racial tensions at every opportunity. He especially hated Mexicans, portraying them as lazy, degenerate, and violent, and as marijuana smokers and job stealers. However, the real motive behind this prejudice was that Hearst had lost 800,000 acres of prime timberland to the rebel Pancho Villa in the mexican revolution.

Quoted from one of his campaign articles “Users of marijuana become STIMULATED as they inhale the drug and are LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug.” “Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim’s life in Los Angeles?… THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES — that is a matter of cold record."

The sheer number of newspapers, tabloids, magazines and film reels that Hearst controlled enabled him to quickly and to effectively inundate American media with hate propaganda. Hearst preyed on existing prejudices by associating cannabis with Mexican workers who threatened to steal American jobs and African-Americans who had long been the subject of white American venom. Much of this racism had already been perpetrated by the propaganda of Hearst, an unabashed racist. The American people had already developed irrational hatred for these racial groups, and so readily accepted the ridiculous stories of their crazed crimes incited by marihuana use.

 

[akaman]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

+ reps for taking me back to school toker, we're never too old to learn something new.

 

[toker69]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

+ reps for taking me back to school toker, we're never too old to learn something new.

It was a fun discussion, and gave us both a chance to vent our viewpoints. My main point about Hearst is that his cannabis condemning campaign is taken out of context, and it's just the tip of his racist propaganda iceberg. It's used to make a connection in the conspiracy theory against hemp, and is really part of a larger campaign against people of color.

 

[akaman]

Re: If MMJ Laws Cause A 'Surge In Drugged Driving Deaths,' Why Are Fatalities Falling

Basically killing 2 birds with 1 stone, skillfully done I would say.