Alcohol’s Role in Car Crashes Is Far Greater than that of Cannabis

[madokie]

So why do far stricter, zero-tolerance laws still apply to pot?


Alcohol remains far and away the most prevalent drug present in the blood of drivers involved in severe or fatal traffic accidents, according to a pair of recently published European studies.

In one study, published in the October issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, Danish researchers assessed the overall risk of a driver being severely injured in an accident after having consumed alcohol, illicit substances, or various types of pharmaceutical drugs, including opioids, benzodiazepenes, and so-called 'Z-drugs' (sedatives/sleep aids) such as Ambien. Case samples (N = 2490) were collected from severely injured drivers in selected hospitals in six European countries. Cases were matched against nearly 16,000 randomly stopped controls. Odds rations were adjusted for age, gender and country.

Investigators reported: "The highest risk of the driver being severely injured was associated with driving positive for high concentrations of alcohol (≥0.8 g/L), alone or in combination with other psychoactive substances. ...The second most risky category contained various drug-drug combinations, amphetamines and medicinal opioids. Medium increased risk was associated with medium sized BACs (at or above 0.5 g/L, below 0.8 g/L) and benzoylecgonine. The least risky drug seemed to be cannabis and benzodiazepines and Z-drugs."

Specifically, drivers with concentrations of alcohol in their blood possessed an elevated risk of accident that was nearly 10 times more than that of sober drivers. Subjects who tested positive for blood/alcohol concentrations between .08 and 1.2 possessed an elevated risk that was more than 16 times that of sober drivers, while drivers with concentrations above 1.2 possessed an elevated risk that was nearly 80 times higher. By contrast, “The driver injury risk estimated with driving positive for cannabis was just above one.” Drivers who tested positive for the presence of legal medicines possessed an elevated risk that was nearly twice that of cannabis

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/alcohols-role-car-crashes-far-greater-cannabis

[In_The_Wind]

1. IMO: Individuals driving under the influence of cannabis drive slower ...

and more cautiously.

[Bennyboy]

2. Well, well, well, whaddayaknow.................

TRUTH.

[spanone]

3. because eli lilly didn't invent it.