Prompted by “Traffic Report: No Increase in Drugged Driving”: http://www.hightimes.com/read/traffic-report-no-increase-drugged-driving
In a world where it makes perfect sense for ‘certain drug’ prohibitionists to tout their ‘See? We told you so!’ campaign regarding their proclaimed inevitable disaster from the ample examples of weakening drug laws, their main focus these days is upon ‘[certain] drugged driving’ (i.e. no such disaster happened).
Next time you encounter the “drugged driving” scare tactic, here are some considerations for you and yours:
“Claims that more drivers are operating vehicles under the influence of marijuana and other controlled substances are unsupported by federal data, according to the conclusions of a November 2014 paper published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of Behavioral Safety Research.”
“Drug positive drivers are not necessarily drug impaired since, ‘in some cases, drug presence can be detected for a period of days or weeks after ingestion.'”
“NHTSA concludes, ‘These facts… demonstrate that we cannot infer whether drugged driving has increased; similarly we cannot know the extent to which drugged driving differs across States.'”
“While the ingestion of cannabis can influence psychomotor performance, particularly in more naïve users, its role in fatal crashes appears comparatively low to that of other controlled substances, particularly alcohol. According to a 2012 review paper of 66 studies assessing drug positive drivers and crash risk, marijuana-positive drivers possessed an odds-adjusted risk of traffic injury of 1.10 and an odds-adjusted risk of fatal accident of 1.26. This risk level was among the lowest of any drugs assessed by the study’s author and it was comparable to the odds ratio associated with penicillin (OR=1.12), anti-histamines (OR=1.12), and antidepressants (OR=1.35).”
The legality of cannabis clearly fits within civilization (at least from a ‘motor vehicle’ point of view).
That said, I have no problem constantly amplifying the serious warning towards anyone basically defying their survival instinct and intelligent thinking by basically ripping bong hits of some coincidentally named ‘wreck’ (or such) and then hopping behind the wheel of a car to drive somewhere. Positive set and setting (i.e. healthily positive mindset and safe environment) applies to users seriously turning up the cannabis effects volume too. Right?
I am an honest freak (or reasonably responsibly balanced "misfit", if you prefer) of an artist working and resting to best carefully contribute towards helping society. Too many people abuse reasoning (e.g. 'partial truth = whole truth' scam), while I exercise reason to explore and express whole truth without any conflict-of-interest -- all within a sometimes offbeat style of psychedelic artistry.
Spirit Wave Journal 
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