1 In 5 Auto Accident Deaths Now Involves Marijuana Use

[Cujet]

1 In 5 Auto Accident Deaths Now Involves Marijuana Use? I call BS on this one. It sounds like politically motivated propaganda to me. I'm not saying that it is OK to drive high, it isn't, and I'm not saying that SOME auto accident deaths involve marijuana use, but 1 in 5? Give me a break.

I'm one of those who never tried pot and having had a career in aviation with drug testing, there was no way I'd ever risk it. The last time I got drunk was when I was 15, prior to a motocross race and I was so hung over I fell over at the holeshot. I realized that drinking prevented me from doing the things I wanted.

I have absolutely no idea how pot impairs someone. Does it delay reaction time in the way that alcohol does?

 

[cptbarkey]

I have absolutely no idea how pot impairs someone. Does it delay reaction time in the way that alcohol does?

Its different for everybody, effects vary by dosage, and strain variant, I know someone who can bake or cook with extreme accuracy and skill, like i mentioned my wife's artwork gets extra extra creative, for myself I get goofy, giggly, clumsy, terrible at board games, and sometimes I get a neat time warp slowdown effect. The downsides have been: extreme munchies, somewhat of a hangover effect the next 24 hours and brain fog. It can also have a small xanax/valium effect for a few days.

 

[Cujet]

Its different for everybody, effects vary by dosage, and strain variant, I know someone who can bake or cook with extreme accuracy and skill, like i mentioned my wife's artwork gets extra extra creative, for myself I get goofy, giggly, clumsy, terrible at board games, and sometimes I get a neat time warp slowdown effect. The downsides have been: extreme munchies, somewhat of a hangover effect the next 24 hours and brain fog. It can also have a small xanax/valium effect for a few days.

OK, but what about reaction time? The stoplight turns green and it's time to go, does somebody that's high on pot take longer to get going? Locally some people seem to be very delayed at the green light even without a phone in their hand. I honk at them, with 3 quick beeps. Maybe it's time for a push-bar on my next pickup truck.

At my hungover motocross race on a brand new Honda 125 Elsinore. I thought I was going to react quickly and beat everyone when the gate dropped. As you might expect I was dead last, and within a few feet I hit some rough sand and fell over still in 1st gear, the rear tire grinding slowly on my boot. Race officials walked over and picked up my bike and helped me off the track. Clearly my reaction time was measured in light-years and not nano-seconds.

Since I've never taken xanax/valium I have no idea what that does either.

 

[alarmguy]

Alcohol is horrible compared to pot and the world would be a much better place without alcohol.
@sloinker has pretty much nailed it in his post.

Alcohol breeds aggression and in excess complete loss of bodily functions and control, hence all kinds of crimes, fights, accidents, never mind losing control of yourself and situations that people get themselves into.

Pot does the opposite, it mellows people out slows them down, makes you chill. There is no comparison of the two and the world would be a much better place without alcohol in it IF one had to be chosen between the two

A world without alcohol gone would be a significant amount of fights, abuse of all kinds on a tremendous scale no less along with the crimes alcohol breeds against each other when without it there would have been no crime.

I don’t agree with stories on how pot was a factor when bad things happen. That is a way to slant a story for attention.
Pot is like laughing gas at the dentist if one had to describe it compared to alcohol.

 

[Pablo]

I don’t agree with stories on how pot was a factor when bad things happen. That is a way to slant a story for attention

Yay pot again!

BS. Pot makes most all people stupid, numb, dumb and idiotic to one degree or another. Some folks can handle it fine, many can't. Impressionable teens should not be led to think pot is OK, but yeah they will try it.

Pot does slow people down, WAY down.............indecision while driving? Yay pot!!!

Again, not comparing pot to heroin, pills, crack, speed, etoh.

Don't smoke weed and drive. It does cause accidents. WE just don't know how many.

 

[mk378]

It would be just as valid to conclude that alcohol in the driver's system brings a higher likelihood of marijuana use. But that is not the spin that the authors wanted.

People who use drugs often use more than one kind. People who don't, well they don't use any kind.

 

[cptbarkey]

OK, but what about reaction time? The stoplight turns green and it's time to go, does somebody that's high on pot take longer to get going? Locally some people seem to be very delayed at the green light even without a phone in their hand. I honk at them, with 3 quick beeps. Maybe it's time for a push-bar on my next pickup truck.

At my hungover motocross race on a brand new Honda 125 Elsinore. I thought I was going to react quickly and beat everyone when the gate dropped. As you might expect I was dead last, and within a few feet I hit some rough sand and fell over still in 1st gear, the rear tire grinding slowly on my boot. Race officials walked over and picked up my bike and helped me off the track. Clearly my reaction time was measured in light-years and not nano-seconds.

Since I've never taken xanax/valium I have no idea what that does either.

Yup, slow reaction times.

 

[Pew]

OK, but what about reaction time? The stoplight turns green and it's time to go, does somebody that's high on pot take longer to get going? Locally some people seem to be very delayed at the green light even without a phone in their hand. I honk at them, with 3 quick beeps. Maybe it's time for a push-bar on my next pickup truck.

At my hungover motocross race on a brand new Honda 125 Elsinore. I thought I was going to react quickly and beat everyone when the gate dropped. As you might expect I was dead last, and within a few feet I hit some rough sand and fell over still in 1st gear, the rear tire grinding slowly on my boot. Race officials walked over and picked up my bike and helped me off the track. Clearly my reaction time was measured in light-years and not nano-seconds.

Since I've never taken xanax/valium I have no idea what that does either.

It does affect your attention; I've never had any sort of pot that has kept my attention and reaction at or better than sober-levels but it's dependent on people, amount, and strain. My lady has had a 400mg edible and was able to keep up a conversation while a friend took a 20mg and went to the moon.

With that said, there are certain strains that are a lot more 'happy' (Jack Herer) and some that are a lot more calming/sleepy (Grand Daddy Purp) but they will all negatively affect reaction time the more you take them in a session

 

[alarmguy]

Yay pot again!

BS. Pot makes most all people stupid, numb, dumb and idiotic to one degree or another. Some folks can handle it fine, many can't. Impressionable teens should not be led to think pot is OK, but yeah they will try it.

Pot does slow people down, WAY down.............indecision while driving? Yay pot!!!

Again, not comparing pot to heroin, pills, crack, speed, etoh.

Don't smoke weed and drive. It does cause accidents. WE just don't know how many.

My post was comparing pot to alcohol both legal in some states.

If one had to chose only one to be legal the world would be massively safer without alcohol and crime rates against each other would plummet. Also gone would be the tragic things that take place where young people gather across the USA (think college campuses) and the spousal abuse nation wide as examples

When it comes to stories like this in the OP it’s sensationalism when it’s void of facts and no one is promoting driving under the influence.
But an empty story that 1 in 5 accidents involves pot does not mean pot was the cause

 

[billt460]

Talking about addiction to intoxicants, I asked my doctor what would constitute a prescription for opioid pain medication today. Because 40 years ago it wasn't anywhere near as abused as it is today, and was far more prescribed.

He somewhat avoided my question, and told me it is so abused nowadays, that the biggest symptom of its misuse are people coming into the ER that are rectally impacted to such a degree they can't defecate.

You can figure out what the "remedy" to that one is. Opioid pain medication is one of the most constipating drugs your body can absorb. Even when taken as directed it can cause severe constipation. Now imagine a certified doper gulping 30+ pills a day....... But hey, what a buzz!

 

[Pablo]

My post was comparing pot to alcohol both legal in some states.

If one had to chose only one to be legal the world would be massively safer without alcohol and crime rates against each other would plummet. Also gone would be the tragic things that take place where young people gather across the USA (think college campuses) and the spousal abuse nation wide as examples

When it comes to stories like this in the OP it’s sensationalism when it’s void of facts and no one is promoting driving under the influence.
But an empty story that 1 in 5 accidents involves pot does not mean pot was the cause

I get that. But it's not really the point of the thread. Pot is NOT good. You can't really argue it's good by saying EtOH is worse. I mean pot is better than PCP and crack and meth. So?

And yes the story and terrible AHA type studies are garbage - these asinine studies help nothing. The popular press runs with them and the population remains in malleable ignorance. But AGAIN pot smoking and driving and accidents ARE up. So are insurance rates.

 

[RDY4WAR]

I saw this article today that reports on recent trends of traffic fatalities in regards to marijuana and alcohol use. Some highlights, or low-lights if you will...

• There was a 33% increase in drunk-driving deaths from 2019 to 2022
• Marijuana use by Americans has increased by 45% since 2018
• The number of frequent marijuana users from 19 to 30 years old has tripled over the same period
• More than 50% of frequent marijuana users over 18 admit to driving while high in the past month
• Marijuana use or combined marijuana and alcohol use has risen to about 21.5% prevalence for fatal auto crashes.
• Higher marijuana use seems to have increased the rates of alcohol impaired drivers, i.e. frequent marijuana use is correlated with increased likelihood of alcohol impaired driving

See the article in the Federalist; search for marijuana and driving as key words. (MOD)

The Federalist is heavily biased and thus not trustworthy. This is a prime case of sensational journalism. Biased sources only feed you (their listening base) what you want to hear. There's no limit to how far they will stretch and skew things to fit a narrative. The first paragraph of that article is nothing but a tirade against marijuana with no mention of the topic. A little further down, they mention the study published, but if you actually look at the study, it doesn't reflect what the article says. The journalist who wrote that nitpicked certain statistics to make it appear far worse than it really is.

For example, marijuana use has not increased by 45% since 2018. Merely the number of people who have admitted to smoking marijuana at least once at some point in their life has increased by 45%. With legalization and reduced stigma, people are simply less afraid to admit it. That's all that means. The rate of use has hardly changed, increasing only 1-5% in most areas, and even that is affected by stigma.

Marijuana and combined marijuana/alcohol related accidents also hasn't increased by 21.5%. It has increased TO 21.5% and hardly noteworthy. The last note afterwards is just straight up false as there is no correlation.

The rate of marijuana users aged 19-30 has only increased by 1% since 2018. What's tripled is number who admit to smoking it publicly.

Find better sources for your information. Don't lock yourself in an echo chamber because the noise can be quite deafening.

Of course, one drug leads to another. Try arguing this point with the many pot heads in today's world who "are more attentive" when high.

Except it's not a gateway drug, never has been.

 

[fdcg27]

While I think that the claim of 20% of all fatals involve marijuana has been pretty well debunked in this thread, it's hardly a secret that intoxication of some kind is involved in a large proportion of fatal accidents, maybe a majority of them.
It's appropriate for us as a society to target impaired driving from all causes using the law and social condemnation as well as public education and outreach. There is nothing inherently wrong with using intoxicating substances, but the user must exercise appropriate self-regulation to avoid using when needing to drive somewhere.
We would also not be mistaken in condemning other potentially dangerous driving behaviors, like aggressive driving, cell phone use while driving, and even eating while driving.
The only thing we should be doing while driving is devoting our attention to the task at hand.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I have nothing against ADULT use of pot for medical use or for their pleasure. IF it were legal and controlled. Not just some pot off the streets that can have who knows what contaminates/poisons in it. Well, that seems like a dream because the Gov (no matter who is in charge) is always "asleep at the wheel" and screws up every thing they put their hands into. So my thought of "controlled use" is NOT gonna happen anytime soon, if ever. So I see disaster on the horizon with many kids messed up for being allowed to run wild and used it without anyone watching and stopping them. At least with liqour they are not "supposed" to be able to purchase it and they really dont have easy access and are not allowed to use it openly in public. It seems LEOs have little power to stop them smoking pot all over in public already. Its a shame.

 

[billt460]

The Federalist is heavily biased and thus not trustworthy. This is a prime case of sensational journalism. Except it's not a gateway drug, never has been.

Yeah, well get your facts straight before you tell that slop to Joe Friday.

 

[Pablo]

The Federalist is heavily biased and thus not trustworthy. This is a prime case of sensational journalism.

Is is, but they are not exactly wrong in general. Do you attack the source when it's CNN, or any of the alphabet screechers? Just curious.

 

[4WD]

Well, there are certainly allot of jobs pot smokers can’t fill - equipment operators and supervisors etc - we do A&D tests for many positions … grounds for termination …

 

[dogememe]

Again, not only does it smell gross, but those that smell like it often act a certain way.

If I had to guess how it affected one’s brain while using it, I’d say it basically makes one stupid and slow.

Those traits are probably fine if you’re at home doing nothing, and it doesn’t bother me if people want to do that, but I don’t want to deal with those people, and I really don’t want to drive near them.

I think the dangerous part is it’s pretty obvious if someone is driving drunk, but it’s less obvious if someone is driving while stoned. In the case of drunk drivers, other drivers can report it and police can observe it and pull them over and arrest them. In the case of weed, you might be able to tell, but it’s not immediately obvious until the driver has to do something quickly, or make a fast decision while driving… at which point they may be unable to do so. That can lead to crashes, injuries, or fatalities.

Not to mention the people I observe smelling or acting like they partake in that drug are often not the kind of people that maintain their vehicle properly, to put it gently.

 

[RDY4WAR]

Is is, but they are not exactly wrong in general. Do you attack the source when it's CNN, or any of the alphabet screechers? Just curious.

Yes. Anybody who knows me personally knows I'm highly critical of news sources. When looking up something from the news that's of importance, I usually take 5 angles; a right wing source, a left wing source, a "centrist" source, a foreign source, and original study/source of information. The truth is buried somewhere in the middle of it all. I did that with this topic.

Least not forget that the news networks are in the entertainment business. They live and die by ratings just like a reality TV show. Naturally, they're going to feed you whatever will keep you peeled to the screen, often tapping into your biggest fears. Take nothing at face value.

I'm a conservative, btw, and don't take too kindly to being associated with the other side merely because I refuse to live in an echo chamber.

 

[TheOilWizard]

Alcohol is horrible compared to pot and the world would be a much better place without alcohol.
@sloinker has pretty much nailed it in his post.

Alcohol breeds aggression and in excess complete loss of bodily functions and control, hence all kinds of crimes, fights, accidents, never mind losing control of yourself and situations that people get themselves into.

Pot does the opposite, it mellows people out slows them down, makes you chill. There is no comparison of the two and the world would be a much better place without alcohol in it IF one had to be chosen between the two

A world without alcohol gone would be a significant amount of fights, abuse of all kinds on a tremendous scale no less along with the crimes alcohol breeds against each other when without it there would have been no crime.

I don’t agree with stories on how pot was a factor when bad things happen. That is a way to slant a story for attention.
Pot is like laughing gas at the dentist if one had to describe it compared to alcohol.

I don’t understand why you made a post comparing alcohol to marijuana. Yes, alcohol is horrible when used beyond moderation. Nobody is claiming otherwise.

However, the context of this thread is to discuss the increase in marijuana-related automotive accidents.

This mindset that marijuana is so harmless is the reason people feel they are fine to drive afterwards. And they’re not.