# Weed vs. road deaths. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 3, 2018, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958 "2018-03-03T11:53:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toefungus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@toefungus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toefungus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/1 "2018-03-03T11:53:14Z")
“what we’ve got is data to confirm anyone’s preexisting prejudices. Opposed to recreational marijuana? Legalization’s made the roads deadlier. In favor? Plenty of evidence suggests that’s not really happening. This was a provisional conclusion offered in a 2016 report by the Drug Policy Alliance, which found “stable” traffic-fatality numbers in pot-friendly states, and also that no,\*\* legalization doesn’t seem to be contributing to any increase in kids getting high\*\*.” What that really shows is that people were already smoking it. ie. If usage doesn’t increase then road deaths won’t increase either. FWIW, I’ve smoked weed and I’m under no illusions that I should be driving afterwards. Especially with the super-powerful weed they’re growing these days. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/2 "2018-03-03T11:57:06Z")
Did Cecil speak on this? Is there a cite? ---
**Author:** ![toefungus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@toefungus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toefungus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/3 "2018-03-03T12:18:00Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Did Cecil speak on this? Is there a cite? Cecil’s words are the part in quotes. He spoke on it today: [https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/9414/what-do-we-know-about-the-effects-of-marijuana-legalization/](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/9414/what-do-we-know-about-the-effects-of-marijuana-legalization/) ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/4 "2018-03-03T12:31:18Z")
Thank You. Interesting Cecil said this; - According to analysis by the Denver Post, the number of drivers there who died in car crashes with THC in their systems more than doubled between 2013 and 2016.\* Cecil should have pointed out that THC stays in the system for 4 to 11 weeks. This is the biggest problem is determining whether the THC is a recent addition, or not. Beyond that, there’s no way to determine if that THC content, even if fresh, was intoxicating the driver. When was it used, an hour ago, or 11 weeks ago? It’s like testing for a beer you drank 3 weeks ago. Come on Cecil, we expect better buddy. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/5 "2018-03-04T15:16:43Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Thank You. > > Interesting Cecil said this; > > - According to analysis by the Denver Post, the number of drivers there who died in car crashes with THC in their systems more than doubled between 2013 and 2016.\* > > Cecil should have pointed out that THC stays in the system for 4 to 11 weeks. This is the biggest problem is determining whether the THC is a recent addition, or not. Beyond that, there’s no way to determine if that THC content, even if fresh, was intoxicating the driver. When was it used, an hour ago, or 11 weeks ago? It’s like testing for a beer you drank 3 weeks ago. > > Come on Cecil, we expect better buddy. Did you read the article? > [@](#): > > According to analysis by the Denver Post, the number of drivers there who died in car crashes with THC in their systems more than doubled between 2013 and 2016. > > OK, that doesn’t sound great. But in context it’s not so clear. For one, crash fatalities in Colorado (and in Washington, another legalization state) over roughly this period have remained in line with stats from control states where marijuana remains outlawed, per 2017 research in the American Journal of Public Health. And multiple earlier studies had previously found reduced traffic fatalities following the passage of state medical-marijuana laws. > > And two, the relationship between THC and impairment remains poorly understood, even down to establishing intoxication — as anyone who’s nervously awaited a drug test will tell you, _THC metabolites linger in the bloodstream long after the high has worn off_. Italics mine. ---
**Author:** ![tampora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@tampora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tampora)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/6 "2018-03-05T06:11:24Z")
> [@The\_Straight\_Dope](#): > > “what we’ve got is data to confirm anyone’s preexisting prejudices. Opposed to recreational marijuana? Legalization’s made the roads deadlier. In favor? Plenty of evidence suggests that’s not really happening.” I disagree with this statement. The fact there was more THC-laden people in accidents in legalized regions, but there were the same number of accidents in those regions as previous years, means the roads have not become deadlier as a result of legalization. If the quotation was truthful, it would read: _what we’ve got is data that clearly shows a trend, but if you ignore half of the necessary information, you can use it to reinforce an incorrect presupposition._ ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/7 "2018-03-05T13:35:06Z")
Regular smokers don’t experience the same kind of high that occasional smokers experience. An occasional smoker is much more impaired than someone who smokes daily. I know guys who drive around and hit the pipe all throughout the day and don’t appear to be the least bit high and they seem to drive fine. I won’t consider driving when I smoke because it makes me so spacey I know I would be a hazard. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/8 "2018-03-05T13:42:28Z")
Also consider … _Before_ we could get 20 years Federal penitentiary just for possessing marijuana, would the state even bother pursuing DWI charges … now in those state that have legalized marijuana, that DWI is a BIG DEAL, maybe the wise would not toke and drive … or so I’ve heard, I have no idea myself … ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weed-vs-road-deaths/809958/9 "2018-03-05T19:14:27Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Regular smokers don’t experience the same kind of high that occasional smokers experience. An occasional smoker is much more impaired than someone who smokes daily. I know guys who drive around and hit the pipe all throughout the day and don’t appear to be the least bit high and they seem to drive fine. I won’t consider driving when I smoke because it makes me so spacey I know I would be a hazard. People have been saying this about boozers forever. Doesn’t make it true.