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 Msg  : #5566 [200]                                                             
 From : NORML California                    1:2613/335      Mon 09 May 94 22:19 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : New Study on Pot & Driving                                              
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From: NORML California <canorml@igc.apc.org>

Another New NHTSA Study Finds Marijuana Has Lesser
Adverse Effects on Driving Performance than Alcohol

       In a major new study, "Marijuana and Actual Driving
Performance," the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration found that adverse effects of THC, the major
psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, on driving appear "relatively
small"  and are less than those of drunken driving.
       The study, conducted in the Netherlands, analyzed the
performance of drivers in actual freeway and urban driving at
various dosages of marijuana.  It found that THC produces a
moderate, dose-related decrement in driving performance as
measured by road tracking, but is "not profoundly impairing."  It
found that THC's effects at the higher doses preferred by smokers
never exceed alcohol's at blood alcohol concentrations of .08%, the
current legal standard for intoxication in California, and are "in no
way unusual compared to many medicinal drugs."  It found that unlike
alcohol, which encourages risky driving, marijuana appears to
produce greater caution, apparently because users are more aware of
their state and able to compensate for it.   Nonetheless, it noted that
marijuana could be quite dangerous in emergency situations that put
high demands on driving, or in combination with other drugs,
especially alcohol.
       This is the second major NHTSA driving study released this year
to find that marijuana is a lesser safety hazard than alcohol.  In
February, NHTSA released the most comprehensive fatal driving
accident survey to date, which found that alcohol was by far the
"dominant problem" in drug-related accidents,  while marijuana and
other drugs were a relatively minor hazard except when combined
with alcohol or other drugs.  It reported, "there was no indication
that marijuana by itself was a cause of fatal accidents."
       The new NHTSA study casts yet further doubt on the rationale
for the federally proposed "Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License"
legislation now being considered in California, which would require
an automatic six-month driver's license suspension for all drug
offenses, regardless of whether they are driving-related.  "If
anything, these studies indicate we should be more lenient with
marijuana and harsher with alcohol," commented California NORML.
  The NHTSA study is by Hindrik W. J. Robbe and James F.
O'Hanlon of the Institute for Human Psychopharmacology, Unmivesity
of Limburg, Maastricht (the Netherlands), Report # DOT HS 808 078.

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