positive for active marijuana doubled from 2013 to 2014—the first year of legal marijuana sales in the state.13
In
Colorado in 2014 there was a 32% increase in marijuana related traffic deaths in just one year from 2013.14 Some argue that this data is not reliable
because there is no uniform approach to testing and record keeping and that there is no past baseline of data and statistics related to marijuana and driving. Colorado is still not sure whether marijuana legalization has made the roads less safe. Te Colorado State Patrol started measuring marijuana-related traffic citations in 2014, said spokesman Sgt. Rob Madden. Tat year will serve as the baseline for years to come. He said, "Statistically speaking, you need more than two years of data, and we don't even have two years yet.”15
Another challenging factor
is that many drivers who cause accidents are found to have both drugs and alcohol or more than one drug in their system, making it hard to know which substance had the greater effect. Te combined use of marijuana and
alcohol while driving draws a clear picture. It is well studied and established that the use of alcohol while driving increases roadway crashes and fatalities.16
When
you add marijuana to alcohol use, crash risk and fatalities increase. “Te risk from driving under the influence of both alcohol and cannabis is greater than the risk of driving under the influence of either alone,” according to the NIH study, “Te Effect of Cannabis Compared With Alcohol on Driving.”17
Although highway statistics
demonstrate that the number of drivers testing positive for marijuana has greatly increased, “driving under the influence of alcohol remains a far more deadly threat.”18 With more time, data collection and studies, marijuana use while driving data and statistics will become clearer and clearer. With this clarity, highway safety entities would then be in a beter position to proscribe new approaches to driving and marijuana.
www.datia.org 7
References NHTSA, 2009
1 18 2
See ROBERT L. DUPONT, THE SELFISH BRAIN: LEARNING FROM ADDICTION 135 (rev. ed., 2000); Andrew Sewell et al., The Effect of Cannabis Compared with Alcohol on Driving, 18 AM. J. ONADDICTIONS 185, 188 (2009). Stephanie Blows et al., Marijuana Use and Car Crash Injury, 100 ADDICTION 605, 606 (2005); Hall & Degenhardt, supra note 10, at 1384–85; Rebecca L. Hartman & Marilyn
A.Huestis, Cannabis Effects on Driving Skills, 59 CLINICAL CHEMISTRY 478, 479 (2013) )
3
http://norml.org/library/item/introduction-to-the- endocannabinoid-system;
http://www.limelifesociety. com/2015/04/16/the-endo-cannabinoid-system
4 5
http://headsup.scholastic.com/students/endocannabinoid
MEDICAL OR RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA AND DRUGGED DRIVING AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW Vol. 52:453 Paul J. Larkin, Jr at 476
6
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2015/02/12/ if-marijuana-causes-lots-of-crashes-why-are-they-so-hard- to-count/
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety Facts 2000: A Compilation of Motor Vehicle Crash Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System. Washington, DC: National Center for Statistics and Analysis, U.S. Department of Transportation; 2001.
8
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2015/02/12/ if-marijuana-causes-lots-of-crashes-why-are-they-so-hard- to-count/
9 10
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/50/4/3
FN
http://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2011/10/
111006173453.htm Date: October 7, 2011Source:Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health Summary: Researchers )
11
(
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/09/30/drug- use-in-fatal-crashes-on-the-rise.html?via=twitter_page).
12
https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/ news/signs-point-sharp-rise-drugged-driving-fatalities
13
http://www.kgw.com/story/news/local/
marijuana/2015/08/19/fatal-crashes-involving-marijuana- double-washington/32029727/)
14
www.rmhidta.org/Reports) 15
16 Denver Post December 29, 2016
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811870.pdf
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stoned-driving-on-the- rise-not-as-risky-as-drinking-and-driving/
Judge Mary A. Celeste sat on the Denver County Court bench where she was the Presiding Judge 2009 and 2010; the first woman to hold that position and the co-
founder of the Denver County Court Sobriety Court. She is the current education co-chair for the IALGT Judges; chair-elect for the ABA National Conference of Specialized Courts and Faculty for the National Center for DWI Courts (NCDC). She has recently chaired the Criminal Justice Group for the Colorado Task Force for Drunk and Impaired Driving and served as the NHTSA Judicial Outreach Liaison for Region 8. She sat on the Colorado Advisory Committee for the United States Civil Rights Commission and served as the President of the of the American Judge’s Association, the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation and as Adjunct Professor at the D.U. Sturm College of Law. She has also served as a board member of the Colorado Bar Association’s Board of Governors, the Denver Bar Association’s Conciliation Panel and the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Board of Governors. She has written many articles and is a national speaker and expert on the topic of marijuana and alcohol impaired and drugged driving.
datia focus 63
17
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/ Am J Addict. 2009; 18(3): 185–193.
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