Originally published January 2 2006
French study claims that drivers using cannabis raise the risk of fatal accidents on the road
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The British Medical Journal has published a study from France based on an evaluation of 10,748 drivers, which claims that drivers who use cannabis double their chance of a fatal crash on the road.
Driving stoned on cannabis doubles the risk of a fatal road crash, a major new study has found.
The New Zealand police, who are pushing for tougher drug-driving controls, say they are not surprised by the French study of 10,748 drivers published in the British Medical Journal yester day.
French researcher Bernard Laumon said all drivers underwent compulsory tests for drugs and alcohol as part of the study, which ran from October 2001 to 2003.
"Driving under the influence of cannabis almost doubles the risk of a fatal road crash," Laumon said.
"The risk of being responsible for a fatal crash increased as the blood concentration of cannabis increased."
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe French study follows New Zealand research this year by police and Environmental Science and Research that showed that up to a third of drivers killed on the roads and later tested had traces of cannabis in their blood.
Kelly said it was hoped the law could be reworded to say a driver was impaired by drugs -- a much easier standard to prove.
British experts had recently trained New Zealand officers in using "divided attention" tests, whereby a person is asked to do two or three tasks at once to determine if they are driving drugged.
Kelly said police were also closely watching Australian attempts to take mouth swabs of suspected drugged drivers for testing.
"We want to ensure the equipment and measures they are trying are up to scratch," he said.
Sergeant John Robinson, of the Canterbury Highway Patrol, said officers stopped drugged drivers regularly enough to be concerned, but alcohol far outweighed these instances.
"People who smoke cannabis tend to stay at home a lot of the time.
That's probably a reflection on society and the people using it," Robinson said.
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