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Thursday, September 11, 2014Driving Stoned - Jury Still Out
As
the number of states legalizing recreational and medical marijuana continues to
grow questions are being raised regarding whether or not this legalization will
equate to more drivers getting behind the wheel stoned. It also begs the question of positive Reasonable Suspicion drug testing.
Research
indicates that marijuana does impair certain areas of perception and cognition.
In a study where people were given tasks to do while high it was found that,
while performing these tasks was still within their abilities, more areas of
the brain needed to be engaged in order to do so. Specific areas hindered by
marijuana included slowed reaction times to sudden events, increased difficulty
multitasking and decreased peripheral vision. All of these affected areas could
create problems while driving. However, there is research that shows that
people who are high are aware of their impairment and take steps to accommodate
that fact.
Studies
looking into the chances of increased risk of accidents and fatalities
resulting from marijuana impaired driving have yielded conflicting
results.
States
that have some form of legalized marijuana have also produced mixed results in
their research aimed at determining the increased prevalence and risks of
stoned drivers. Washington found a 25 percent hike in drivers testing positive
for pot but could find no increase in accidents. States like California,
Washington and Hawaii have reported increased accident rates but these studies
have not successfully been replicated, insinuating an error in the research
process.
One
of the major barriers to determining the rate of people driving high and the
rate of crashes caused by being high are the testing methods. Roadside saliva
tests exist, and are often used, but they present a problem because the
components being tested for can remain in saliva for several hours after the
marijuana has been smoked. This issue with tests raises concerns from medical
marijuana advocates that patients could be criminalized for medicating, even
without having been high when behind the wheel.
