In a new report by the
Governors Highway Safety Association and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol
Responsibility, a nonprofit organization funded by alcohol distillers, 43
percent of fatal car crashes in the United States in 2015 involved illegal or
prescription drugs while 37 percent of these fatalities involved alcohol alone. This is a significant finding, especially
after so many years of the alcohol industry pushing people to drink
responsibly.
I see this as an
indication of the effect of the fact that may be the effect of people switching
from alcoholic products to the now legal marijuana. This
report emphasizes the need for increased law enforcement training to detect
drivers who are under the influence of drugs. Today there is no standard roadside test to
detect most drugs. Unlike alcohol, which
can be detected and measured using a Breathalyzer and simple blood test, drugs,
which are often combined, can be more difficult to detect unless they are found
in the possession of the offender at the scene.
Most drug testing relies on a urine test, which only indicates that
there has been drug use in the past month or so.
Marijuana
laws allowing medicinal or recreational use complicate the drugged driving
issue even further. A 2013 study found increases in fatal crashes involving
marijuana use in only three of 14 states that passed medical marijuana laws
prior to 2010. It
also cited a 2016 study from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area that said traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for
marijuana rose from 10 percent in 2009 to 21 percent in 2015, but those numbers
include any time marijuana is detected, and other substances could be involved.
Colorado voters approved recreational marijuana in 2012.
I’m proud of
the alcohol industry for their pushing of the responsible use of their products,
and it is something that the marijuana and other drug manufacturers are going
to have to become seriously involved in.
