From Time:
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia, have legalized medical marijuana since the mid-1990s. For the new study, economists looked at 1990-2009 government data on marijuana use and traffic deaths in the 13 states that had passed legalization laws during that time period. The data were from the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Comparing traffic deaths over time in states with and without medical marijuana law changes, the researchers found that fatal car wrecks dropped by 9% in states that legalized medical use — which was largely attributable to a decline in drunk driving. The researchers controlled for other factors like changes in driving laws and the number of miles driven that could affect the results.
Medical marijuana laws were not significantly linked with changes in daytime crash rates or those that didn't involve alcohol. But the rate of fatal crashes in which a driver had consumed any alcohol dropped 12% after medical marijuana was legalized, and crashes involving high levels of alcohol consumption fell 14%.
I wish I could roll this study up and put a copy up the ass of every person who says that high driving and drunk driving are the same. They aren't.
Remeber when your parents would catch you ripped as hell and they'd bitch you out about the dangers of driving high? And you would just shut up because arguing gets you nowhere. But everyone who has smoked pot knows that driving high is far less dangerous than being drunk behind the wheel.
The article brings up a solid point. Allowing limited marijuana use will cause some people to switch and instead of having a few drinks and driving maybe just smoke a joint. The numbers don't lie. When people are high, they drive slow and careful, when they are drunk it's more like reckless and fast and in the direction of large street lights. No bueno.
Thanks to my man Jared for passing on this story.
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