While it's possible marijuana legalization increased the percentage of drivers who are smoking pot before getting behind the wheel, the data doesn't prove that legalizing pot worsens road safety, said Benjamen Hansen, an economist at the University of Oregon in Eugene and at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Hansen has conducted other research on marijuana legalization in relation to driving accidents.

 

For instance, it's possible that police are simply testing for THC more often now that the drug has been legalized, and are therefore catching people who might have been missed in previous years, Hansen said. It's also possible that people who are found to have detectable levels of THC in their blood were not impaired at the time of the crash, he added.

 

Even if marijuana does cause more bad driving, it's still not clear that marijuana legalization reduces overall traffic safety, Hansen said. Legalizing the drug has widespread societal impacts, some of which may reduce the general risk of dangerous driving, he said.

 

For instance, if more people stay home, "getting high in their basements," rather than getting drunk in a bar, that may lower the number of drunk drivers on the roads, Hansen said. And a few studies suggest that driving while high may be safer than driving while drunk: In driving simulators, for instance, people who are high are less likely to weave out of their lane and speed than drunk drivers, a 2015 study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found.

 

On the other hand, legalization may make recreational marijuana use more socially acceptable, and so more people may venture out of their homes to smoke pot, thereby increasing the risk of people driving while high, Hansen said.

 

Either way, researchers need more information on the impacts of marijuana, Hansen said.

 

"At the federal level, we need to do a much better job of collecting information on THC and CBD and the active ingredients in marijuana," Hansen told Live Science.

 

Does Driving High on Marijuana Increase Fatal Crashes?

There is a lot more at that link.

 

And we have so much to learn about legalizing marijuana on so many fronts.

I agree, but I would think that anything that impairs normal brain functioning, which marijuana does, would be more of a risk as a driver.

I agree, but I would think that anything that impairs normal brain functioning, which marijuana does, would be more of a risk as a driver.

 

I definitely agree with that line of thinking.

 

I guess the larger issue is with alcohol the science is really good at determining impairment unless someone is a professional drinker. With THC it could be what someone did last night or even last week so measuring levels of THC is a total stab in the dark.

Folks get too paranoid on pot to drive poorly.

I think some people drive better high. At least they pay attention.

 

I would much rather a person be on the road high as opposed to drunk. Just my opinion.

I think some people drive better high. At least they pay attention.

 

I would much rather a person be on the road high as opposed to drunk. Just my opinion.

 

I think this is the second time we've ever agreed, and they've both come in the last month or two...Scary. :lol2:

I'm willing to test this theory if supplied with all the tools needed. :banana:

I think this is the second time we've ever agreed, and they've both come in the last month or two...Scary. :lol2:

 

Yeah the world must be getting close to the end.

 

But I really feel safer with someone driving high as opposed to someone drunk.

Bad to say but I have experienced both as a passenger when a lot younger and dumber. I will take the pot person over a drunk person every time.

I think this is the second time we've ever agreed, and they've both come in the last month or two...Scary. :lol2:

 

Yeah the world must be getting close to the end.

 

But I really feel safer with someone driving high as opposed to someone drunk.

Bad to say but I have experienced both as a passenger when a lot younger and dumber. I will take the pot person over a drunk person every time.

 

You two need to get a Forum. :banana:

I'm willing to test this theory if supplied with all the tools needed. :banana:

 

Does Mr. lawildcat approve?

Does Mr. lawildcat approve?

 

Huh?! He's not the boss of me. I'm grown; I do what I want!

^ Whatever...

Does Mr. lawildcat approve?

 

Huh?! He's not the boss of me. I'm grown; I do what I want!

 

^ Whatever...

 

You two need to get a forum. hahahaha

The numbers are interesting, but don't really tell us much specifically. A few random thoughts:

 

1 - As BengalManiac said, being impaired on anything is going to make you a worse/dangerous driver, even if being drunk is probably the more debilitating of the two.

 

2 - My gut says the lack of increase in wrecks or traffic fatalities is likely that people under the influence of marijuana are less likely to drive than people under the influence of alcohol. Whether that's because people do it in their homes instead of bars or because they have less desire to, I don't know. Drunk people have a bizarre sense of invincibility whereas high people are more likely to be paranoid. But, that's just my guess. It's also possible not enough people have indulged since legalization in these states to have a significant impact on these numbers.

 

3 - I imagine the process of getting impaired might have something to do with it. It takes longer to get drunk, but once there I think people tend to keep going or need to sleep it off to get back to normal. Marijuana's effects are instant, but they also wear off after a few hours and I think people are capable of functioning as normal without the typical "hangover."