MARIJUANA LAW UPDATES BY JUDGE MARY A. CELESTE (RET.), DENVER COUNTY COURT
Does Marijuana Use Cause Crashes and Fatalities?
This column will update readers on developments in marijuana legalization.
the use of marijuana affects your ability to drive. It affects alertness and arousal, atention and processing speed, reaction time and psychomotor functions, sensory- perceptual functions, executive functions1
I
distorts perceptions of time and space, including distance; and diminishes the eye-hand-foot coordination necessary for driving.2
t is clear from metadata studies, including lab studies, simulator studies and actual roadway field studies that
there are cannabinoid receptors in the cerebellum, which controls motor coordination and balance.4
It would be easy
to take a leap and conclude that the unsafe driving will result in both more crashes and more crash fatalities. However, there is not a consensus on whether marijuana use causes crashes. Atorney Paul Larkin, Jr. in a recent
criminal law review article stated that “Tere is no consensus that cannabis use will ineluctably cause the average marijuana user to suffer an automobile accident.5
,
many demographic variables.” For example, young males are more prone to crashes. According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, the fatality rate for teenagers is four times that of drivers age 25 to 69, and drivers under age 25 account for a quarter of all traffic fatalities…7
“[I]f the
THC-positive drivers were predominantly young males, their apparent crash risk may have been related to age and gender rather than use of THC.”8 Te Insurance Institute for Highway
Te National Highway Traffic Together or separately, those
affects could certainly diminish a person’s ability to drive safely. Te reason these functions are affected is because of the location of the cannabinoid receptors in specific areas of the brain.3
For example
Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a crash study and released the results 2015. During a 20-month period ending in 2012, researcher’s randomly sampled 3,000 crash-involved drivers and found no evidence suggesting those with marijuana in their system were more prone to crashes.6
“Te significant increased risk
of crash involvement associated with THC is difficult to pinpoint because there are too
Safety in a recent report stated that “more drivers use marijuana but link to crashes is murky.”9
Conversely, in a crash risk study
at Columbia University it was stated that marijuana use may double the risk of crashes for drivers. Tey found that drivers who tested positive for marijuana or report driving within three hours of marijuana use are more than twice as likely as other drivers to be involved in motor vehicle crashes.10 Te effect of marijuana crashes may not
be clear but crash fatality information is becoming clearer. In September 2015, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) stated that the number of dead drivers who tested positive for drugs jumped to nearly 40% (2005–2013) and atributed that increase to both prescription drugs and marijuana use.11 Te Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention at Columbia University study stated that fatal car crashes where the driver tested positive for the presence of marijuana use have tripled in 10 years.12 • Colorado and Washington, the two oldest recreational marijuana states, are releasing data, statistics and reports on marijuana and driving. Te Washington Traffic Safety Commission says more marijuana-using drivers are geting into fatal crashes. Washington drivers involved in deadly crashes who tested
62 datia focus Spring 2016
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