Countless accidents have occured on the road thanks to drinking and driving over the years and as the move for cannabis legalization has spread, we are seeing more messages come around on the television, radio, throughout the community, warning people about the dangers of mixing cannabis and driving.
If someone isn't familiar with cannabis, they might assume that anyone who uses cannabis is going to equally have their driving skills impaired, but that isn't the case. Studies have shown that cannabis has less prominent effects for heavy users who are used to taking a higher dose of the substance. Therefore, for someone who is using cannabis regularly, they might not have their awareness or driving skills impaired to such an extent that someone might have who isn't used to using the substance. As well, there are many individuals who use cannabis as a medication and on a regular basis which would mean they have a high tolerance and that the medicine has less physiological effects over time.
The move to issue penalties then over roadside screening tests is obviously highly problematic and has caused a growing number of people a great deal of headache and concern.
These tests have proven to be unreliable and for those who use cannabis regularly they will test positive for THC but that doesn't in-turn translate to them being impaired at the time of operating a vehicle.
So while those who are quick to slap anti-cannabis driving stickers on their cars, they might want to be sure that they themselves aren't talking on the phone while driving, or texting while driving, even being sleep-deprived or engaging with a touch screen device on the vehicle is also dubbed risky behavior.
These activities, aside from cannabis, have been shown to dramatically increase your risk of getting into an accident much more than cannabis-impaired driving might.
Dozens of states have already made changes to cannabis prohibition and the country isn't seeing a chaotic rise in car accidents like some might have expected. Researchers suggest that for reports that did suggest initial increases in accidents where states have legalized, it might have been because of a sudden uptick in new users, as the THC is going to impact new users differently. Those rates reportedly eventually leveled out.
Current methods are incapable of detecting a person's specific level of impairment and that makes it difficult for authorities to deal with this problem.
How much THC equals impairment?
Lawmakers and authority figures will continue to push for those legal limits on cannabis though, but the methods they have been using have been highly criticized for being scientifically flawed and unreliable for now.