Summary
And while the press is talking about illegal drugs, I'm talking about all the prescription drugs people are taking before they get behind the wheel. It is those prescription drugs that often impair mental function and turn ordinary people into unsafe drivers.
Statin drugs, for example, are well known to impair coginitive ability. Antidepressants promote violent, aggressive behavior, just like we often see in road rage incidents.
Original source:
http://www.thisislondon.com/til/jsp/modules/Article/print.jsp?itemId=15201282
Details
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Drug-driving may be more of a problem than drink-driving, it is claimed, after more than half of the motorists killed in accidents in one police area were found to have taken drugs.
- Campaigners also say young people are twice as likely to agree to be driven by someone on drugs rather than by someone who has been drinking.
- The statistics were quoted at the launch of a Christmas campaign against drug-driving today.
- The London Drug Policy Forum initiative is aimed at drivers between the ages of 18 and 30 who are unaware of the dangers of driving after taking drugs.
- Posters on London's buses and Underground will highlight the penalties of being convicted of drug-driving.
- Campaign organiser David MacKintosh said: "We know there are people who would not dream of drinking and driving but who would happily drop a few 'Es' or smoke a few spliffs before driving.
- "We want to alert them that drug-driving has the same penalties as drink-driving and impairs people in the same way."
- Drugs such as cocaine tend to make people take more risks and narrow their senses, while cannabis impairs reactions in the same way as drinking.
- The campaign, funded by the Corporation of London, was originally aimed at recreational drug users in the City.
- Now, backed by the Metropolitan and City of London police forces and the RAC Foundation, it is hoped to extend the campaign across the country.
- The RAC Foundation said police in Durham had examined blood samples from 23 people killed in road accidents.
- Fifty per cent had traces of cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy or other drugs.
- Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said: "For too long the real problem of drugs and driving has been a taboo subject.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he has authored and published several downloadable personal preparedness courses including a downloadable course focused on safety and self defense. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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Thursday, December 09, 2004
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