Cannabis legalization advocates have a new arrow in their quiver: A new U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Commission report says there’s little correlation between marijuana use and car wrecks, and that drivers under the influence of MJ have a much smaller chance of crashing than those who’ve been drinking alcohol.
“Analyses incorporating adjustments for age, gender, ethnicity, and alcohol concentration level did not show a significant increase in levels of crash risk associated with the presence of” marijuana.
The study, however, found “a statistically significant association between driver alcohol level and crash risk both before and after adjustment for demographic factors.”
The NHTSC report will no doubt be used by legalization advocates to underscore the belief that cannabis use is safer than alcohol use, at least on the roads, as it offsets numbers showing people who’ve used marijuana before driving has increased considerably since 2007.
Many states have attempted to make laws concerning marijuana impairment but a certain level of THC will remain in the bloodstream for many weeks after use, making it nearly impossible to know if a person is impaired.
Even so, the NHTSC said, drivers who’ve been using any drug, regardless of whether it’s alcohol or marijuana, shouldn’t get behind the wheel.
