Drug Driving Report

[twentythree]

found this on another forum and thought i would post it after seeing the discussion about driving under the influence.

 

More news from the MAPS drugnews-digest list. I hate crossposting, but its an interesting read.

 

Drugnews digest is very high volume, but eminently worth checking out, subscribe via the MAPS site

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CRASH RISK IS DRIVER, NOT DRUG

 

NEW research into marijuana use and car crash injury suggests the drug does not cause accidents, it is more the personalities of the risk takers who use it.

 

A five-year study, to be published later this year, shows habitual users who get stoned more than seven times a week are 10 times more likely to die in a crash than occasional users who drive under its influence.

 

"What we actually found was that habitual marijuana use is a strong predictor of a car crash," University of Sydney research fellow

Stephanie Blows told the Australian Epidemiology Association's annual conference at the University of WA yesterday. "The effect of the drug was not as strong as we thought and this is because marijuana use per se is not a strong risk factor."

 

Habitual marijuana use was a strong indicator of risk-taking but other risk factors such as alcohol and speed were more likely to contribute to a crash.

 

The research related to more than 1000 drivers from car crashes in Auckland, about 6 per cent of whom took marijuana in the three hours before the crash.  Of these drivers, 10 per cent were habitual marijuana users.

 

Dr Blows said the findings added to a growing pool of research to help guide government policy.  But studies were hampered by the small number of drivers who used marijuana and the need for blood tests to confirm a driver was under its influence.

 

The Victorian Government announced this month it would introduce the world's first random roadside drug tests next year. "I think the importance of this research is showing that it is probably misguided to just focus on drug use," Dr Blows said.  "You have got to look at the type of person who takes the drug and then gets behind the wheel."

 

Also yesterday, a conference in Melbourne was told servies for psychotic people put too much emphasis on getting them off drugs such as cannabis, amphetamines and alcohol. A newer school of thought says they should be encouraged to learn ways to manage drug use, such as substituting a couple of beers for a line of speed.

 

The conference was told half of the one in 100 Australians with schizophrenia, severe depression or bipolar disorder had a drug or alcohol problem. Include tobacco and the number was about 98 per cent of inpatients.

 

The director of health sciences at the University of Queensland, David Kavanagh, said people with a psychotic illness usually took drugs for the same reasons most people did but tended to have severe reactions.

 

While some people believed the focus should be to get them to quit all drugs, he believed it was important to help them not make as many mistakes with drugs.