An Ambulance with Your Pot Order?

Gatestone Institute moving ahead with yearlong review of legalized marijuana

by Gatestone Institute Editorial Staff
December 3, 2019 at 10:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15242/marijuana-accidents-michigan

During the new year... Gatestone will be empaneling experts to examine this emerging threat to motorists, pedestrians, those in the workplace, and young people.
We need to understand the implications of that on public health....
Marijuana has been listed as the most common drug involved in fatal car accidents, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999, the last time such data was available.

(Image source: iStock)

Within hours of Michigan permitting the legalized sale of recreational marijuana this weekend, state police reported a driver found to be under the influence of marijuana crashed his truck into a police cruiser. The driver was arrested after admitting he had been smoking pot before the accident, and the state trooper was treated for minor injuries.

That incident is just a single snapshot of what the nation may be facing as more and more states move forward the legalization of recreational marijuana sales, underscoring the reason why Gatestone Institute will be conducting a series of symposiums in the coming year that will closely examine the potential impact of legalized pot on the wellbeing of our nation's children, occupational safety, transportation, and the enormous potential for substance abuse.

Gatestone stated: "In 2020, we expect the momentum to legalize recreational marijuana will only increase. What deeply concerns us is that there has not been a thoughtful and comprehensive review of what this means. Should we have specific safeguards in place that will protect our society? Have states put the anticipated tax revenue from pot sales ahead of the safety of their constituents?"

During the new year, Gatestone will be empaneling experts to examine this emerging threat to motorists, pedestrians, those in the workplace, and young people. "In truth, there is not a segment of our nation's population that will not be impacted by the arrival of legalized marijuana. We need to understand the implications of that on public health," Gatestone added.

Marijuana has been listed as the most common drug involved in fatal car accidents, contributing to 12 percent of 2010 crashes compared with 4 percent in 1999, the last time such data was available. "Based on these statistics, that number will most likely increase exponentially in the coming year."

In the wake of the Michigan accident state police were quick to remind the public in a tweet:

"This [accident] is a reminder that on the day legal marijuana can be purchased, do not smoke and drive. Just like alcohol use a ride service, designated driver or stay home."

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Comment on this item

38 Reader Comments

Brett Greenberg • Dec 4, 2019 at 12:25

Ban Alcohol and leave Marijuana alone.

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Mark Rogers • Dec 4, 2019 at 08:18

Here in the U.K., while the National Health Service with Tony Blair's government's support was campaigning, successfully, to have cigarette smoking banned in public indoor spaces (which included, among other absurdities, company vehicles, a vicar's study where parishioners were received), Blair's government was also campaigning to legalize recreational marijuana - which is up to 10 times more carcinogenic than tobacco! Presumably the prejudice against tobacco is simply that it is manufactured and marketed by big business, and has nothing to do with health issues. And on the latter score, during the legalization campaigning, the connection between cannabis and schizophrenia was ducked. So what happens when pot is legal and its distribution is taken over by tobacco companies - will there then be campaigns to have it banned? But seriously these two issues, the prejudices re cannabis vis-a-vis tobacco and the cannabis-schizophrenia link should form part of your panel's investigations.

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Pat

Mark Rogers • Dec 4, 2019 at 13:50

It is now well known that second hand smoke is harmful. I am grateful that smoking has been banned in public indoor spaces in my state in the US. Second hand smoke gave my mother-in-law lung cancer, and it killed her. It can send me into uncontrollable coughing fits. The reason it has been banned is because it is HARMFUL. It has absolutely nothing to do with WHO manufactures it. Marijuana smoke also gives me the granddaddy of a splitting headache, and all it takes is a tiny whiff. If marijuana is legalized for recreational purposes, we will have to fight to have it banned from indoor public spaces, a fight we did once with tobacco and will have to do all over again.

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Mark Rogers

Pat • Dec 5, 2019 at 08:07

Second-hand smoking was only part of the issue in the UK: the campaign was to stop smokers per se; it was always made clear that winning the public spaces battle was the first round. Without joining the issue of harm, over the decades, and then including the NHS campaign, big business was always put in the firing line, which is why I drew attention to this aspect of it in the context of the absurdity for legalizing the one while campaigning to ban the other!

Personally, though never a smoker, I never found tobacco smoke an irritant. What was irritating was that, in former times, overland and underground trains had smoking carriages: once the NHS ban came into force, the carriages were discontinued, so if someone did light up there was nowhere other passengers could tell the smokers to go to. So the ban actually increased non-smokers exposure to tobacco smoke. While this is not so much of a problem on trains anymore, one is far more often likely to encounter it on the pavements because when smokers leave their offices or the pub to smoke outdoors, they tend to do so in gaggles of people. Meanwhile indoor smoking of marijuana is turned a blind eye to in, for example, student bars. And yes, skunk makes me sick at the very merest whiff - even lingering in the air in certain side alleys in London long after the puffer has puffed off.

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Pat

Mark Rogers • Dec 6, 2019 at 17:54

Well, that's all very interesting. Here, the ban on smoking indoors has worked very well. I rarely see anyone light up. If I do, I just politely tell them it is illegal, and they put it out. We do have people smoking outside, and I try to avoid them. Often, it is possible. Otherwise, I hold my breath while I walk through the area. That wouldn't work for marijuana, because I'd get a whiff before I knew there was a problem, and instant headache. I haven't ridden a train in decades, so I can't comment there, and I live in the USA. It's too bad about smoking cars, but if they have them, you shouldn't have to walk through them to get to the dining car or anything. I don't think they would be too careful about this. I have heard many synonyms for marijuana, but "skunk" is a new one on me.

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Albarino Richard • Dec 3, 2019 at 22:59

Cannabis legalization is the most pernicious governmental policy since the wholesale sell-out of the American working class by Robert Rubin/Clinton Wall Street money-grubbers. It is a national disaster. I drank to excess and smoked "dope" for years, but I never drove on dope. Whatever it does to the mind, it seemed to take eons to transfer my foot from the clutch to the brake. Too scary even for me. At the time I had a severe problem with depression. Years later, while running with a friend around the reservoir in Central Park, he announced that he has given up smoking dope. Why I asked. I think it causes depression, he replied. At that moment I gave up smoking dope. I haven't been depressed since that time. Nada. None. The surge in suicide among the young, I think, is directly atttributable to cannabis.

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waljay • Dec 3, 2019 at 21:28

See if you can confirm that it decreases the IQ of teenagers by 10 points. If true, that can account for the not so great results of our high schoolers on international tests. A national security issue.

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Henry • Dec 3, 2019 at 20:23

Whoever wants to smoke will certainly smoke legally or illegally. Alcohol impairs people and it is not banned. Illegal pot is dangerous, as it contains poisonous additives. So, the legalization will not change the number of users; however it'll change the quality of this grass. I have to reiterate, whoever wants to smoke can always buy it easily even if it is formally illegal. If the person has propensity to addiction, no law will change that.

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Pat

Henry • Dec 4, 2019 at 01:32

Marijuana itself contains poisons. It's not just additives.

Some people will smoke regardless of the law. But there are many people who will refrain from doing something simply because it is illegal. The law is a teacher as well. Look what happened when abortion was legalized. The number being committed increased tenfold. The law is intended to teach those who are teachable, not just to deal with people who do the illegal act.

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Henry

Pat • Dec 4, 2019 at 07:10

How about alcohol? It is rather harmful. Look into statistics. It is horrible. It's been banned too. If the person has issues, desires, inclinations, etc. no law would help. Yes, the number of users may increase but it depends on the amount and frequency of usage. People must control themselves.

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Pat

Henry • Dec 4, 2019 at 13:44

There is a profound difference between marijuana and alcohol. Alcoholic drinks in moderation are actually healthful for the general public. The smallest quantity of marijuana, on the other hand, is harmful. I speak from experience. Laws stop some people from doing a thing. That is why they are noecessary. It is the misuse of alcohol that is the problem. You may or may not be a Christian, but I should point out that Jesus used real wine in the Lord's Supper, and Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach's sake.

Alchoholic beverages like wine and beer were drunk with meals in Europe because the water was unsafe. Life went on. But I have seen so many PERSONAL examples, one involving ME, that even a tiny bit of marijuana is harmful. I am willing to grant that marijuana can be medicinal, but it can also be destructive just like a pharmaceutical. If you need the medicinal properties, try CBD oil instead. Otherwise, leave it alone. There is absolutely no reason to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, and plenty of compelling reasons not to do so.

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Shane Varcoe • Dec 3, 2019 at 19:07

Any psychotropic substance impairs not only function and capacity, but also agency and the subsequent sense of responsibility that agency imbues. All out the window with drug use, and the new weed is culprit number one. Why? because it is the worst hallucinogen, note, for the exact same reason alcohol creates so much harm - it is socially acceptable and now 'legal'. The 'State' has now put another drug BACK into the currents of trade (after nearly 100 war to get them out) and expects 'responsible use and outcomes'. The Cannabis Chaos will continue, of that we have no doubt and who will pay for the carnage, the harms, the loss? Maybe the user? Guarantee, the assault on the non-using tax-payer will be significant.

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Thomas • Dec 3, 2019 at 17:52

What are the statistics involving comparisons between marijuana and alcohol??

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Morris Givner • Dec 3, 2019 at 17:39

There is not enough attention by the media and the police of the gruesome murders committed by hard drug users.We should never forget that marijuana is a gateway drug to hard addictive drugs in 10-20 per cent of users. It is a major tragedy when young people use marijuana, acquire damaged brains and lose their motivation. Their futures are forever blighted.
The economic costs to all society from drug addiction, vehicle accidents, injuries and deaths are horrendous. The media devotes too much time, space and money covering insignificant scandals and unimportant social behaviour by entertainers and politicians and ignore the ever-present consequences of a society that consumes vast quantities of drugs daily.

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Terri Valko • Dec 3, 2019 at 17:35

I'm 61 and I have smoked almost daily since I was 14. I've never worked a day without it. I was sexually abused as a kid and it helped me. Over the years, I noticed most react differently than I did. I have a high tolerance to it and pain. Not a good idea for today's kids to drive on it. I've driven all over even in semis on it. I couldn't stay in a hotel without it. It saved my life. That being said, I still don't think most have a clue how it affects them until it's too late. Just my thoughts though.

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Wyo Huti • Dec 3, 2019 at 17:27

Blaming cannabis is wrong. ANY intoxicant is causal, not just cannabis. And, ignore the cannabis statistics, as they are inaccurate in most cases. Example-- a person who eats cannabis for pain or other condition can test positive for it a MONTH after ingestion, despite not being under the influence for the preceding 30 days. Also, with many, if they are stupid enough to drive under the influence of cannabis, will drive more slowly than normal.

Driving under the influence of ANY intoxicant is unwise, correlating cannabis with accidents is inaccurate because the cannabis metabolitess measured do not reflect impairment levels, and persist for WEEKS after cannabis consumption has stopped. Until actual impairment can be measured, those statistics are meaningless.

How to combat intoxicated driving? Law enforcement officers can administer a simple laptop-based test of coordination, perception, and judgment, which will identify compromised drivers regardless of if any, or which, intoxicant involved. Only then can accurate statistics be determined.

I agree with Denise Choate's comment, fully.

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Pat

Wyo Huti • Dec 4, 2019 at 01:40

Say what? Is it also wrong to blame all those other intoxicants? If the metabolites are still in the system, the person is still impaired. Simple.

We adopted a child whose mother must have used marijuana during pregnancy. The damage is typical of marijuana use. And permanent. He is almost 50 years old. Should we stop pregnant women from using marijuana because it harms their babies? Sure. They are harming a child. The major damage occurs before the mother knows she is pregnant. So should we ban the use of marijuana in all women of childbearing age? There goes equal protection of the law! So we have an unconstitutional situation. What is your answer?

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Wyo Huti

Pat • Dec 9, 2019 at 13:58

Cannabis metabolites remain in our systems for WEEKS after impairment is 100% gone. Other drugs vary and correlate more tightly with blood levels of metabolites.

As for fetal harm, it is usually caused by alcohol and other drugs the mother ingests. Cannabis harm is VERY weakly correlated, if at all, in fetal harm.

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Pat

Wyo Huti • Dec 10, 2019 at 04:24

They didn't think thalidomide was harmful when taken by pregnant mothers, either. I can tell you from PERSONAL experience that when a mother uses marijuana during pregnancy, it causes permanent harm to the baby, so your claim that it is very weakly correlated doesn't hold water with me. What it REALLY means is that they don't KNOW what harm it causes.

I wouldn't want to bet the farm on someone being unimpaired as long as there are cannabis metabolites in his system.

We have a national mentality that says something is safe until a lot of people get hurt. We should consider a thing potentially harmful and exercise caution if it is not a natural substance or it is being misused.

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Malek al Kuffar • Dec 3, 2019 at 16:52

The drive to legalize pot is too strong to resist. Therefore it should be properly regulated. Firstly the federal government must play the lead role in pot regulation, since piecemeal regulation such as we have seen creates confusion. Strict rules should prevent adulteration and other harmful practices followed by the tobacco industry. Sale should be restricted to adults, because pot consumption by minors harms their developing brains. Extremely potent varieties should be banned. Advertising of pot should be forbidden. Perhaps pharmacies could sell the stuff to people authorized through some procedure, although medical prescriptions are not a good idea because American doctors are very restrictive in prescribing psychoactive substances, in my opinion much too restrictive. If you have to go through a doctor to get pot, illegal pot markets will thrive.

Cheap fast tests comparable to breathalyzers should be developed to detect pot consumption by drivers, machinery operators and others who must be discouraged from consuming. Current blood tests are too slow and expensive to administer. Swabs of hands and lips are probably quite effective.

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Pat

Malek al Kuffar • Dec 4, 2019 at 01:44

So we legalized abortion. And now it can be properly regulated? Most abortion mills have scores of violations of standard health requirements for clinics. Think Kermit Gosnell. He is not the exception. He is the rule.

Anything that is available to adults will be available to minors. Alcohol is. And parents will smoke in the home with their children.

The black market in marijuana is thriving in Colorado. People buy from them to evade taxes.

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R Mann • Dec 3, 2019 at 16:42

Back in the '70s, I was in Hawaii as a member of the USAF. Lots of pot being smoked. I drove through a stoplight one night while stoned. The red blended in with all the other pretty lights. Thankfully there was no one coming through on the green side. Many people have no idea of just how degraded your senses are when stoned on pot. When I think about how much time and money has been put into the don't drink and drive ads over the years, and the number of people who still do, it gets really scary. When you throw in all the potheads to the mix you get more population reduction.

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Eileen Perahia • Dec 3, 2019 at 16:03

While I cannot dispute that weed could make some people less responsive in their driving, I cannot believe that it is any worse than alcohol or texting. In fact, there is actually no way to get those stats because so many are driving and NOT having accidents while having smoked a bit of weed. Just make a law: don't drink and drive and don't smoke and drive.

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Pat

Eileen Perahia • Dec 3, 2019 at 22:17

Not exactly. Some alcoholic beverages can be drunk in moderation and are completely safe when drunk under proper circumstances. In Europe, for example, wine and beer were drunk with meals because the water was not safe to drink. Some alcoholic beverages have medicinal value as well. It can be said that marijuana has medicinal value, but CBD oil is much superior, and making that available for medicinal use is NOT the same thing as legalizing marijuana for recreational use. The fact is, drinking alcohol (though not driving impaired) is legal. We do NOT need to legalize yet another vice. If you think it is bad for alcohol to be legal, then you should especially agree with the point I just made.

As for texting, absolutely a no-no when driving. Next?

The number using marijuana and driving and not having accident is irrelevant. Furthermore, it is possible for a person to get high on second hand smoke and not have an alternate way to get home. When marijuana is legalized, this greatly increases the chance that an innocent person will get hurt by ingesting without consent. Happened to both my husband and me. Alcohol clears out of the system within hours, while marijuana takes days. There is another critically important difference for you.

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Denise Choate • Dec 3, 2019 at 15:55

"That incident is just a single snapshot of what the nation may be facing..."

This view is indeed a single snapshot of a very complex issue. I do recognize the concerns brought up in this article about drivers, cannabis and increased danger for all on the roads and the public. There are risks and unintended consequences with the use of any medication or intoxicating substance, especially alcohol whenever and where ever human beings consume drugs and alcohol. That's not going to change. Every year, many new drugs, including newly developed pharmaceuticals and over the counter drugs like antihistamines are developed and sold to the public, and these drugs can be habit forming and dangerous when abused or operating heavy equipment while driving as well.

It's against the law to be impaired for any reason while operating a motor vehicle. This argument reminds me of the arguments used by many gun violence advocates. The newly produced makes and models of various guns themselves are neutral. It's the motive and individual behind the trigger not the gun, that matter.

I included this quote of a study also published this year, (I admit this study is also a 'single snapshot') that contradicts the results of the study you cited:

"A study published today in the journal Addiction found that, on average, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state (all of which have legalized medical marijuana) had about one additional traffic death per million residents. The same effect was true for the neighboring states, probably because people drive across state lines to buy cannabis. In total, there were about 170 extra deaths in the first six months after legalization."

I believe your concerns are valid but I'm not convinced your view is the whole story. Thank you for a challenging and needed series.

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Eileen

Denise Choate • Dec 3, 2019 at 16:11

Excellent. Thank you

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Pat

Denise Choate • Dec 3, 2019 at 22:20

I personally think many pharmaceuticals OUGHT to be ILLEGAL. But generally speaking, they are not being taken for recreational purposes, and if they are, that IS illegal. So your comparison is not all that accurate. I also dispute your low figures for additional marijuana-related deaths.

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Derek Williams • Dec 3, 2019 at 15:45

You simply must include Alex Berenson author of - Tell Your Children: The Truth about Marijuana, Mental Health and Violence - in you panel. This recently published book of his was an eye opener for me.

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Timothy Gaynor • Dec 3, 2019 at 15:43

To begin with, marijuana never should have been put on Schedule 1. The Federal Gov needs to get out of the regulation business. Somehow the states need to be in charge of testing the products and working with or requiring insurance companies covering the cost of use just like other drugs and medications to kill the black market incentives.

Let the states compete for the business based on the highest quality for consumption or use them taxed according to citizens ability to pay. I.e. medical needs for chronic pain, cancer, End of life, injured disabled, nerve or eyesight requirements like preventing seizures, glaucoma, and all other medical conditions as prescribed by an authorized registered medical DOCTOR!! Throw the book at those citizens would use and operate machinery, cars, boats, planes, bikes, motorcycles etc.

In Europe I it's an automatic loss of driving or operating privilege for (1) one year plus $10,000 fine plus all court and legal cost. 2nd violation loss of operation privileges for life plus legal cost, 100% of all incarceration cost, $50,000 fine. If in an accident that causes injuries 100% compensation of medical and physical loss of abilities. Stop playing games with people and drugs use and use or operation of powered vehicles. No excuses. No exceptions. Blood and breathalyzer test at scene. No exceptions.
I'm disabled, retired and in constant chronic pain since 1979. All drivers should carry 1-2, 000 000 umbrella insurance to compensate their viictims for life.

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Pat

Timothy Gaynor • Dec 3, 2019 at 22:24

Whether or not marijuana should be Schedule 1 is debatable, although research is desirable. The federal government has a DUTY to protect the citizens against any harmful substance transported into the country or across state lines. They need to act effectively. I like your heavy penalties. Do you really want doctors to be the gatekeepers for this? I sure don't! I'm not sure which is worse: doctors or government.

You should have a right to access CBD oil for your pain. Recreational marijuana should remain illegal, and trafficking should be heavily punished.

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William Vanderbrink • Dec 3, 2019 at 14:41

I'm not going to smoke pot, ever. I do think that pot is no worse an intoxicant than alcohol.

Should there be laws associated with the operation of vehicles and equipment after consuming any marijuana containing product, yes.

One thing to remember related to work related usage is that there are numerous OSHA and PHMSA (pipeline & hazardous materials) drug screening regs that limit use by workers even if their state of residency allows recreational use.

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Jascha Kesler • Dec 3, 2019 at 14:39

In 1949 three of my Senior College friends were pot smoking. One was lobotimized; one began to wander Washington Square as a derelict dropout from Library grad school; the last was soon a suicide. I hear in my thoughts the lament of Cassius in OTHELLO, after a night of carousing with wine to celebrate a military victory, "Oh, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains"

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Juanita Skelton • Dec 3, 2019 at 14:19

Title is hilarious....bravo!!!

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Hamish MacDonald • Dec 3, 2019 at 14:08

Not to smoke, not to drink is an advantage.

By seeking abstinence, by fasting the will becomes stronger. It is possible to confront a whole manner of abuse and dispose of it.
Weak willed politicians a dime a dozen, and they encourage the use of drugs, and of course resulting crime.

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tracie koehler • Dec 3, 2019 at 13:48

As usual the idiots ruin it for the people who are responsible, I used weed to get me off of narcotics and I still use it for the pain. I was hurt really badly in a car accident and they put me on narcotics and then they tried subuxitone, which makes me sick. Today if I push myself and end up in a lot of pain I take a hit or 2 or I eat some chocolate made with weed. I know many people who would rather take weed then all those pills.

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Sharon • Dec 3, 2019 at 13:40

Alcohol is far more dangerous.

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Bruce Cain • Dec 3, 2019 at 13:36

I've been smoking/growing for 50 years. Yes, they should educate about edibles, which can impair driving. But smoking a joint is about as detrimental to motor skills as a few cups of coffee.

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Joel Cohen

Bruce Cain • Dec 3, 2019 at 18:19

I was a rock musician in 60's, 70's 80's + Pot is varied, People's ability to function varies. Strong pot isn't for functioning. It's for laying in bed, sitting on sofa, eating munchies, watching movies, or just being too stoned to move! If you see a car on the hwy in right lane doing 35mph, the driver is stoned! I don't want my kids toking before school or driving, or walking on a trafficked road while high! I don't agree with legalizing for normal social use in public. It should only be used at home! No jail penalty should apply, but same laws for DWI should apply.

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