Cannabis & Cars A Fatal Mix....

[Guest Urbanhog]

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1801/a10.html

Newshawk: Niall Young

Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2002

Source: West Australian (Australia)

Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited

Contact: letters@wanews.com.au

Website: http://www.thewest.com.au

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/495

Author: Mark Mallabone

 

 

CANNABIS, CARS A FATAL MIX

 

DRIVERS who smoked cannabis before getting behind the wheel were six times more likely to die in a crash than other road users, a parliamentary committee has been told.

 

Monash University forensic medicine expert Olaf Drummer said yesterday it was myth that stoned motorists were relatively safe because they drove slowly. Fatal smashes among this group caused by excessive speed were not uncommon.

 

"It is certainly not a safe drug in relation to road trauma," Professor Drummer told the House of Representatives standing committee on family and community affairs.

 

He unveiled an analysis which showed that drivers with relatively high levels of cannabis in their bloodstream ( more than 5ng/mL of tetrahydrocannabinol ) were 6.6 times more likely than others to die on the roads.

 

Only very drunk drivers were more vulnerable. Those with a blood-alcohol content higher than 0.20 were 20 times more likely to die.

 

In a coronial study of almost 3400 driver deaths during 1990-99, including 757 in WA, Professor Drummer found almost 30 per cent of victims recorded a blood-alcohol content above the legal limit.

 

A further 26 per cent tested positive for mind-altering ( psychotropic ) drugs, including 14 per cent who had recently used cannabis.

 

Other commonly detected drugs were opiates ( 4.4 per cent ), stimulants ( 3.8 per cent ) and benzodiazepines ( 3.6 per cent ).

 

Professor Drummer told the committee that drivers who used stimulants such as amphetamines were 2.3 times more likely than others to die.

 

the death rate was much higher ( 8.8 times ) among stimulant-using truck drivers.

 

interestingly, heroin use did not appear to be strongly linked to unsafe driving. Heroin users were 1.4 times more likely to die but those who had taken multiple mood-altering drugs were 5.4 times more likely to die.

 

The combination of alcohol and mood-altering drugs was particularly dangerous.

 

Professor Drummer's research appears to support moves by WA authorities, revealed last week, to investigate the possibility of testing drivers for drugs other than alcohol.

 

The WA Police Service has made preliminary inquiries about getting portable roadside saliva testing kits.

 

Victorian police are preparing to start a similar program.

 

And The West Australian understands that the Government's drink and drug driving task force has made a submission that legislation be drafted to help catch the rising number of people driving while affected by drugs.

[boe~pimp]

lmfao @ tom

&

@ pete i've been known to do that

 

o.oo BAL ? thats physically impossible, P platers are still on 0.02 the only people that are on nill (0.00) are public service drivers (taxi & bus drivers)

cough medicine will put you over 0.00 with a brethalyser.

[Guest Babybear]

::

Im a better driver when im stonned, I never do it when there is other ppl in the car would never do it with children either , whihc stands to reason . My partner actully qite liked drivein while stonned as it was a good drive, BUt if i had to much an wouldnt admit it he would let me drive a few 100 meters an Usally id stop the car an admit i should be drivein .

If canabis use ever comes legal i think they should have some way of testin a level of canabis in the body an work out a safe amout for everyone.

[BlackBeauty]

@pete: now that sounds dangerous!

 

@boe~pimp: no, here in Vic, it's 0.00 for P-Platers!!

[Guest Urbanhog]

Here in QLD, we don't have these P plates to be shown on the car, and there's no speed limit for P platers in QLD, just follow the road's speed limit, and no grog in your system until your provisional licience expires in 3 years I think.

[notgail]

Re driving under influence of dope - I agree entirely with earlier reply where do they get these stats - also the people who were smoking, were they drinking as well? I drove taxis for 6 years - sitting in a taxi for 12 hours waiting for a job is very boring work - Starting at 3am till 3pm - For the first couple of years I would go home for "brekky" at day break. I never had ANY probs and in fact was often complemented on my driving skills and also avoided many an accident during this time. Frankly in my opinion "speed" (both versions) kills and until the car makers realise it's against the law to speed and manufacture cars appropriately not to be able to go over say 120k's nothing will change the road death toll. Also I also agree every one is individual and I am sure there are people out there who find it very difficult to smoke and drive.

[pipeman]

anyone who claims they drive better stoned is truly delusional. You may enjoy driving better, but that is not the same as driving better.

 

I am seeing two justifications for driving stoned.

 

1. I've been doing it for ages and haven't had a problem.

 

2. I'm still safer than idiot straight drivers

 

Well this does not mean anything. People can speed wrecklessly for ages without a problem as well, but it only takes that one in a thousand situation for it all to turn to shit. Thats what people don't realise about safety, you are working to prevent an accident in that freak occurance, not everyday situations.

 

I can drive around suburban streets doing a 100 without a problem, but that one time some poor kid jumps in front of my car he's screwed. What do I say then? I've been speeding for years without a problem? I'm still safer speeding than some idiot drunk not speeding? These excuses are laughable, yet are the same justifications I'm hearing from my fellow stoners here. Everyone is at a given level of competency and safety when they get behind the wheel, and you don't have the right to compromise the lives of others by driving high.

 

I just hope that none of you stoned drivers learn your lesson the hard way.

[boe~pimp]

pipemans hit it on the head and i'm in the same boat.

while driving stoned may seem to increase your hazard perception, it deffinately doesn't increase your reaction time, and even if it did doesn't mean your in a state to choose the correct actions to take.

 

driving under the influence of anything but oxygen has its risks, but so does driving in general.

 

can still be a straighty 180 driver and have your family wiped out by a drunk/stoned driver. don't know about alot of you but i would find a hard time justifying that.

~Boe~

[notgail]

When I was driving cab's, one of my fellow drivers got pulled over random breath test and he fair dinkum failed because of chewing on Peppermint choc lollies - he went about 0.02 which he could have lost his licence on but he told the cops he hadn't had a drink since the week before and pulled these loll's out of car pocket - apparently the alcohol content in peppermint is known to affect your alcohol readings - bit of trivia - personally I agree it's up to the individual on how they handle driving stoned. But that could be said with driving after drinking. Someone could be 0.06 and still be ten times better driver than poor 80 year old Mr Smith or 19 year old Betty Brock. What it comes down to is always be on the defensive when driving the old lethal weapon. (a very good friend of mine has been an ambo for 20 odd years) - the biggest killer whether your straight or stoned is speed. The best drivers in the world come undone.

[boe~pimp]

speed is an issue but its far from the biggest killers on Australian roads.

there were far less accidents years and years ago when the old XY Falcons, Chargers & Toranas owned the roads with open speed limits.

merely because of less drivers but with more respect.

theres just way to many peckers on the roads these days its like a driving around a fuckwit farm just to get to the shops half the time, sydneys an absolute joke and i blame it on the availability of drivers licences.

the age limit doesn't need to be raised, on the contrary it could even be lowered.

i think that driving around doing a few u-turns, a reverse park & basically shit all else is way to easy to get a licence to drive on the roads.

bring in mandatory advanced driving courses or something i say, make getting a drivers licenece harder than buying ciggarettes from the local shop.

 

Back to the topic of driving smashed/drunk, i'll drive around with mates smoking cones in carparks or wherever. but when we really want to smoke it up big we'll go somewhere where we don't have to drive. & driving drunk, i've driven home feeling completely sober after a half case of beer, but doesn't mean i'll do it again because the fact remains it's still a stupid thing to do.

~Boe~

[pipeman]

i think that driving around doing a few u-turns, a reverse park & basically shit all else is way to easy to get a licence to drive on the roads.

bring in mandatory advanced driving courses or something i say, make getting a drivers licenece harder than buying ciggarettes from the local shop.

my first instinct was to agree with you, but when I think about it IMO the driver's attitude/cautiousness is a much bigger safety factor thank driving skill.

 

When I first got my license i drove pretty conservatively, but after a period of time I got better skills and I suppose overconfident and did a lot of stupid driving, speeding, sliding in the wet, running red lights, weaving in heavy traffic, burnouts to pull u turns on narrow streets to name a few bad habits. So it was my attitude that was the problem, not my skill. I was fortunate to make it through that phase without having a single accident, but when I think back about it I was damn lucky.

 

So personally I would rather see unskilled cautious drivers on the road rather than skilled maniacs.

 

PS - One thing that is really pissing me off as of late is idiots who drive on high beam. Be OK if they passed you, but the fuckers just seem to want to sit on your tail with their lights in your mirrors.