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From Norml About Driving

peanutbutter

By peanutbutter
in Legal Professionals

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peanutbutter Advanced Member

peanutbutter

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Marijuana Smoking Associated With Minimal Changes In Driving Performance, Study Finds

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Hartford, CT: Subjects exhibit virtually identical psychomotor skills on a battery of driving simulator tests prior to and shortly after smoking marijuana, according to clinical trial data published in the March issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

 

Investigators from Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine assessed the simulated driving performance of 85 subjects in a double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Volunteers responded to various simulated events associated with automobile crash risk — such as avoiding a driver who was entering an intersection illegally, deciding to stop or go through a changing traffic light, responding to the presence of emergency vehicles, avoiding colliding with a dog who entered into traffic, and maintaining safe driving during a secondary (in-the-car) auditory distraction. Subjects performed the tests sober and then again 30 minutes after smoking a single marijuana cigarette containing either 2.9 percent THC or zero THC (placebo).

 

Investigators reported that volunteers performed virtually the same after smoking cannabis as they did sober and/or after consuming a placebo. "No differences were found during the baseline driving segment (and the) collision avoidance scenarios," authors reported.

 

Investigators did note, "Participants receiving active marijuana decreased their speed more so than those receiving placebo cigarette during (the) distracted section of the drive." Authors hypothesized that subjects' reduction in speed on this task suggested that they may have been compensating for perceived impairment. "[N]o other changes in driving performance were found," researchers concluded.

 

A 2008 driving simulator study published in the scientific journal Accident, Analysis and Prevention also reported that drivers administered cannabis are likely to decrease their driving speed. "Average speed was the most sensitive driving performance variable affected by both THC and alcohol but with an opposite effect," investigators reported. "Smoking THC cigarettes caused drivers to drive slower in a dose-dependent manner, while alcohol caused drivers to drive significantly faster than in 'control' conditions.'"

 

Previous reviews assessing the crash culpability risk of drivers under the influence of cannabis have reported a positive association between recent marijuana exposure (as typically measured by the presence of active THC in the driver's blood) and a gradually increased, dose-dependent risk of vehicle accident. However, these studies have consistently found that this elevated risk is below the risk presented by drivers who have consumed legal quantities of alcohol. By contrast, studies have also reported that drivers engaged in the simultaneous use of both cannabis and alcohol can increase their risk of accident compared to the consumption of either substance alone.

 

NORML's white paper assessing the impact of marijuana on psychomotor skills, "Cannabis and Driving: A Scientific and Rational Review," is available online at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7459.

 

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Sex differences in the effects of marijuana on simulated driving performance," appears in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

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Zombiefied Advanced Member

Zombiefied

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Subjects performed the tests sober and then again 30 minutes after smoking a single marijuana cigarette containing either 2.9 percent THC or zero THC (placebo).

 

I am sure we all agree, ALL "Medical" quality Cannabis, has a way higher THC %... but, its still a good test.

 

Thanks PB for the read.

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peanutbutter Advanced Member

peanutbutter

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I am sure we all agree, ALL "Medical" quality Cannabis, has a way higher THC %... but, its still a good test.

 

Thanks PB for the read.

This has been the same result every time such a test has been conducted.

 

And there have been many such tests.

 

The laws against driving with THC in your system have all been based on the effects of driving with alcohol in your system.

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Zombiefied Advanced Member

Zombiefied

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This has been the same result every time such a test has been conducted.

 

And there have been many such tests.

 

The laws against driving with THC in your system have all been based on the effects of driving with alcohol in your system.

 

I agree and so does anybody that has drivin under the influence. Ask anybody that uses Cannabis, they drive 45 in a 55 and not even notice.....lol

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peanutbutter Advanced Member

peanutbutter

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I agree and so does anybody that has drivin under the influence. Ask anybody that uses Cannabis, they drive 45 in a 55 and not even notice.....lol

yep .. These laws are like "coffee and beer do the same thing to you. They both effect your brain, so they are the same."

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peanutbutter Advanced Member

peanutbutter

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420Peace PB,

 

I know a guy who delivered pizza for 20 years in Ann Arbor

I think he was using Marijuana with every delivery

Never had an accident.

That should be proof right there...

Sure does make the driving night go faster.

 

I got more than 20 years on the pizza road myself ..

 

HEY!! Were you talking about me? :P

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Zombiefied Advanced Member

Zombiefied

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yep .. These laws are like "coffee and beer do the same thing to you. They both effect your brain, so they are the same."

I just seen that new legislature they are try to pass. I would ban dispensaries and smokers clubs. They say they dont want people driving while "high". But bars can have 1000 drunks come out of it and its ok....

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budhabit Advanced Member

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Check out this link that I found this morning http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-marijuana-pedestr,0,3149418.story

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court has overturned parts of a motorist's conviction in the death of a pedestrian who was drunk and walking in the road.

 

The court said Tuesday a Washtenaw County jury in 2005 should have been allowed to hear the victim had been drinking, just like driver George Feezel.

 

In the same case, the Supreme Court's liberal majority also said it's not illegal to drive while having a marijuana byproduct in the body. The court says "11-carboxy-THC" can't be considered a controlled substance under Michigan law.

 

The justices say it's a byproduct created when the body breaks down marijuana's active ingredient. The court ruled differently in 2006 when it had a conservative majority and faced the issue in another case.

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