The Results of Marijuana on Automotive Accidents

Under is an approximation of this video’s audio content material. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, photographs, and quotes to which Dr. Greger could also be referring, watch the above video.

Is cannabis-impaired driving a public well being and security concern? Effectively, the variety of tickets went up for cannabis-impaired driving in Washington State after legalization, and the proportion of drivers in deadly automobile crashes in Colorado who examined constructive went up. However in each circumstances, this may occasionally merely replicate the overall improve in marijuana use general. It doesn’t imply the hashish is inflicting the crashes.

Yeah, there’s a lot of proof correlating marijuana use with automobile accidents. However it’s a must to ask your self who makes use of marijuana? Principally younger folks and males. And guess who has increased crash danger no matter what they smoke? Younger folks and males. However taking that into consideration, it does appear that roughly 20 to 30 % of site visitors crashes involving hashish use happen as a result of of the hashish use. To place that in perspective, although, that quantity is extra like 85 % in relation to alcohol.

Yeah, however are the hashish crashes simply low-velocity fender-bender bumps from some wasted driver going like 5 miles an hour? After a scientific evaluation of the literature, this compilation of research analyzing acute hashish consumption and motorized vehicle collisions “discovered a close to doubling of danger of a driver being concerned in a motorized vehicle collision leading to severe harm or demise.” So, that’s fairly severe; although once more, alcohol is even worse. Sure, hashish could double or triple the danger of automobile crashes, however alcohol could multiply the danger like 6- to 15-fold. The combo could also be even worse, although; 25 occasions the percentages of deadly automobile crash involvement testing constructive for each.

The protection consequence of hashish intoxication when driving is listed as a main concern about hashish legalization. Okay, properly what occurred within the states the place marijuana was legalized. How a lot did site visitors fatalities go up? They didn’t. In truth, they went down. What? Why does legalizing pot scale back site visitors fatalities? Due to decreased alcohol consumption. They discovered that legalization of weed was related to decreased alcohol consumption; so sure, extra drugged driving, however much less drunk driving—and that’s a lot worse, that general, fatalities went down.

So, maybe we’d additionally see much less liver illness, much less alcohol-induced mind harm, as pot substitutes for a few of the alcohol use. Hashish is unlikely to provide as a lot hurt as alcohol as a result of, in contrast to alcohol, hashish doesn’t trigger liver or gastrointestinal ailments, isn’t deadly in overdoses, and doesn’t look like as neurotoxic as alcohol. And, it’s not as potent a reason behind automobile crashes as alcohol, both.

The well being issues of hashish dependence, like bronchitis and reminiscence impairment, are a lot much less severe, on common, than these affected by alcohol dependence. However this doesn’t imply that hashish dependence is a minor drawback––however public well being authorities could be criticized for bringing that up. It’s like within the 40s and 50s after the repeal of Prohibition, you continue to have to warn folks concerning the issues of heavy consuming, liver cirrhosis, and alcoholism. However you’d simply get dismissed as some temperance propagandist. And now we see an identical factor, the place the general public well being career needs to coach folks concerning the adversarial well being results of hashish, however are dismissed as reefer insanity hysterics.

Nonetheless, it’s vital to place these adversarial well being results in perspective. How does the protection of hashish stack up towards alcohol and tobacco? In keeping with the CDC, alcohol is linked to roughly 88,000 deaths per yr, whereas the deaths as a consequence of hashish are from issues like automobile accidents, and so they go down when extra folks smoke pot, as a result of alcohol is a lot worse. With hindsight, we will clearly see the big issues which have been brought on by the authorized medicine—tobacco and alcohol.

If requested to resolve at present which psychoactive medicine must be authorized, hashish may properly be a lot increased on the checklist.

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