Findings from a working discussion paper that link medical marijuana with a reduction in alcohol crash fatalities, published as part of an online labor institute discussion series -- not a peer-reviewed study in a scientific journal -- are being reported as scientific fact by a surprising number of top newspapers and magazines.
The discussion paper concludes that alcohol traffic fatalities are reduced in medical marijuana states because, as the author's assert, "alcohol and marijuana are substitutes." Essentially, the headlines read that because A happened at the same time B happened, A caused B.
There are numerous problems here. (Prevention groups like CADCA have also responded, and rumor is that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy will also have a response soon).
First, a discussion paper is not a scientific study. It has not been reviewed by scientists, nor submitted for publication to a scientific journal. Until scientists have the opportunity to review the data and the authors' methodology, their conclusions are preliminary at best. Second, the paper contains several flaws, a few of which are listed here:
- The paper ignores the fact that alcohol crash fatalities were already coming down far before the introduction of medical marijuana in any state. (The paper did control for seatbelt and a few other alcohol laws, but it failed to control for many other important factors.) Three decades of education on drunk driving and tough laws have had the direct effect of reducing alcohol-related car crashes dramatically in the last thirty years. In fact, a recent survey by the U.S. Department of Transportation found that 1 in 40 nighttime, weekend drivers tested positive for a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08 -- a 70 percent reduction since 1973. The survey tested other drugs for the first time and found that 1 in 12 tested positive for marijuana. Data from peer-reviewed, published research finds that marijuana impairs motor coordination, reaction time, attentiveness, and perception of time and speed. In a study of seriously injured drivers admitted to a Level-1 shock trauma center, more than a quarter of all drivers tested positive for marijuana. Research conducted at the University of Auckland, New Zealand found that habitual marijuana users were 9.5 times more likely to be involved in crashes, with 5.6 percent of people who had crashed having taken the drug, compared to 0.5 percent of the control group.
- The authors studied Rhode Island, Vermont, and Montana "before" (1999-2003) and "after" (2005-2009) medical marijuana. But this is not nearly representative of medical marijuana at all -- indeed, in 2009 Rhode Island and Vermont both had under 300 members registered in their medical marijuana programs, respectively, and no medical marijuana dispensaries. In many medical marijuana states there are storefront marijuana dispensaries that sell medical marijuana candy and ice cream. They advertise in the media and are very well promoted and commercialized, notes David Evans, former manager of the New Jersey Intoxicated Driving Program for the New Jersey Department of Health, citing a 2010 New York Times article.
But that was not the case in these two states.
- The third state the authors looked at was Montana, which they contend "had more than 27,000" members in 2011. What they fail to mention, however, is that in 2009, when their study period ends, Montana had only 6,000 members, up from a mere 800 the year before. The vast majority of the growth in the medical marijuana program occurred after the time period studied by the authors.
- The authors clearly dismiss or ignore research about the effects of medical marijuana that happen to be inconsistent with their conclusions. A biostatistician and her colleagues at Columbia University looked at 10 states and found increases in marijuana use in medical marijuana states. Another peer-reviewed study found that, though researchers were cautious about speculating why, adolescent marijuana use was higher in states that had medical marijuana.
- The authors act as if there were no evidence linking car crashes with marijuana. A meta-analysis to be published in the peer-reviewed 2012 edition of Epidemiological Reviews looked at nine studies conducted over the past two decades on marijuana and car crash risk. Their conclusion? "Drivers who test positive for marijuana or self-report using marijuana are more than twice as likely as other drivers to be involved in motor vehicle crashes."
There certainly needs to be more research done on the marijuana driving-while-intoxicated link. But to conclude from this working paper, as many media outlets have, that medical marijuana reduces alcohol crash fatalities is both disingenuous and dangerous.
Kevin A. Sabet is a regular columnist for thefix.com.
Follow Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D. on Twitter:
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And as far as fatalities testing positive for cannabis, there are all kinds of problems with that, in particular proving intoxication at the time of the accident. Traces can be found as much as a month after using, and there is no blood-cannabis content level established as causing intoxication. The variation of tolerance and intoxicating effects are much harder to quantify than with alcohol. Is there an established blood content level for vicodin and other opiates, the most commonly abused narcotics? If they would check people for opiates at DUI checkpoints, they might find much more than drunks.
Oh so now we're concerned with science?
As usual the gov misinformation/fear machine is working overtime to demonize one of the most beneficial plants on Earth and people who use it medicinally or responsibly enjoy it. The for-profit, increasingly militarized & violent WOD is out of control and abusive to millions; this is the second administration-connected pro-WOD piece on HP in the same week, the other attempted to link all “drug use” with general criminality/crimes, an obvious falsity, maybe this pattern has something to do with the Draconian federal crack-down on medicinal marijuana in CA.
So what is the point of this piece? One would think a Ph.D could express themselves & make a cogent point with more focus and clarity, unless that isn't the real intent. I don't expect the position as gov drug policy "adviser" has anything to do with the authors point of view or intent.
Abusive drug laws & increasing violence of police enforcing them are far more detrimental & costly to our society and citizens than any consequences of “drug use”, “legal” pharmaceutical drugs are far more dangerous & widely abused than illegal; its time to end the war on people misnamed the WOD! We need a sane just drug “policy” from this admn, & legalization/decriminalization of cannabis/industrial hemp, not more of the same enforcement violence, deliberate lies & disinformation.
Don't believe the lies! Arm yourself with the truth!
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php
http://www.panacea-bocaf.org/hempproduction.htm
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/
If ordinary Americans could grow a little marijuana in their own back yards, it would be about as valuable as home-grown tomatoes. Let's put the criminals out of business and get them out of our neighborhoods. It's time to let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
We can email our Congressperson and Senators at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml to discuss HR 2306, the proposed Federal law that will get the Federal government out of the marijuana business and let states make their own laws.
And a big THANK YOU to the courageous, freedom loving legislators, governors, and countless others who are working so hard to bring this through! You’re doing a great patriotic service for all of America!
Alaska re-re-legalized in 2002 after an 11 year period of re-criminalization. In the SAMHSA study linked below Alaska was found to have a statistically significant ***reduction*** in the incidence of drugged driving in the study period from 2002 to 2009. The 2002 in the study is the very same 2002 when the Alaska Court of Appeals tossed out the 1990 re-criminalization vote and re-re-legalized petty possession and petty cultivation in Alaska.
http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k10/205/DruggedDriving.htm
California is another of the 7 States which had a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of "drugged" driving in the study period. That same time period found the number of Californians that claim the protection of the Compassionate Use Act and the Medical Marijuana Program Act increase by a factor of at least 10.
Mr. Sabet is simply wrong.
"Never let the facts stand in the way of disseminating an effective piece of hysterical rhetoric"
~ The motto of the Know Nothing prohibitionist
Tell your representatives -> http://pvox.co/CdiFqY
The fact is that anyone who wants to get high already does so. Legalizing marijuana will allow people who have already made the choice to get high to do so with a substance which is far less harmful than alcohol.
It's called "harm reduction" and it means focusing on results rather than messages.
come out into the light:
Studies to Discover the Full Potential of Marijuana's Benefits
Already scientists, researchers and doctors have discovered a wide range of benefits unequaled by any other natural or chemical medication, ever. Period.
No other medication or herb offers relief from symptoms like these:
Relief of muscle spasms
Relief of chronic pain
Reduction in interlobular pressure inside the eye
Suppression of nausea
Weight loss - increase and restore metabolism
No other medication or herb offers treatment from a wide variety of diseases like these:
AIDS - Marijuana can reduce the nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting from the condition itself and the medications as well.
Glaucoma - Marijuana relieves the internal eye pressure of glaucoma, and therefore relieving the pain and slowing or even stopping the condition.
Cancer- Many side effects of the medication to stop cancer can be relieve with Marijuana, some studies suggest that Marijuana tends to slow down the progress of some types of cancer.
Multiple Sclerosis - Muscle pain, spasticity, tremors and unsteadiness are some of the effects caused by the disease that can be relieved by Marijuana.
Epilepsy - in some patients, epileptic seizures can be prevented with Marijuana use.
Chronic pain - Marijuana helps to alleviate the pain caused from many types of injuries and disorders.
Anxiety, Depression or Obsession - Even though mild anxiety is a common side effect in some users, cannabis can elevate your mood and expand the mind.
http://www.health-be.com/2011/05/is-marijuana-wonder-drug-that-could.html
Good for Sabet for pushing for an objective analysis of this issue.
"The paper ignores the fact that alcohol crash fatalities were already coming down far before the introduction of medical marijuana in any state."
This fact does not contradict the central finding of the study, which is that alcohol crash fatalites have come down MORE in states which have passed medical marijuana laws than in those which have not.
Unless Mr. Sabet means to suggest that medical mj states have tougher drunk driving laws and more effective anti-drunk driving education than non-mmj states, then this is simply an attempt at obfuscation, not objectivity.
Perhaps you should read the study yourself and then let us know whether you've been able to find any methodological flaws. It's available here: C:\Users\Admin\Downloads\Documents\dp6112_2.pdf.