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What Do I Need to Know about Marijuana? Podcasts, Brain, driving, Effects

What Do I Need to Know about Marijuana?   Podcasts   Answers all the myths with science and facts.  Is it safe to drive using marijuana?  If it is a medicine, how can it hurt me?  What does marijuana use do to my brain? ....

New AAA Foundation research shows an estimated 14.8 million Americans report driving within one hour after using marijuana in the past 30 days AAA, driving, driving drugged








Marijuana and Driving 2017 Legislation, driving, CDC
The Clinical Conundrum of Medical Marijuana Potency, Studies, driving, Finn, MD, 2017 Legislation

Detailed Information
. Patients freely share their “medicine” with family and friends, and parents are self-diagnosing, and subsequently dosing their children with high-concentration marijuana products for conditions that may simply not exist (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, etc.); or allow their medical cards to expire and continue to grow their own.
The use of marijuana for medical conditions, including pain, needs robust studies, and subsequent products need more regulation and consistency for public consumption. Colorado is an example of the societal effect across a wide spectrum of arenas that comes with rampant cannabis use, particularly in youth use and impaired driving fatalities. The problems Colorado is seeing completely transcend “responsible use” or “marijuana as medicine.” 


The AAA Position: Marijuana’s Effect on Driving AAA, postition statement, statement, driving, drugged driving, Impairment, car crashes, Fatalities, drug testing


"SWAP" TAC Drug Drive Ad driving, drugged driving, youtube, Fatalities

If you drive on drugs you are out of your mind.

Stoned Drivers Are Killing More and More Innocent Victims drugged driving, driving, car crashes, Washington, Colorado, Fatalities

Fatal driving accidents have risen 122 percent between 2010 and 2014, according to the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission.

The science is clear and unambiguous—pot is a dangerous substance. It is not like alcohol at all. There is a reason it is classified as a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance, right along with heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. The American Medical Association, the American Lung Association, and other reputable doctors and scientists all reject legalization.

Impaired Driving And Cannabis AAA, Washington, driving, car crashes, Colorado, Impairment


Impacts of Alcohol and Marijuana on Driving AAA, alcohol, driving, Impairment
Marijuana and Driving driving, Infographics
AAA Marijuana, Alcohol and Driving AAA, driving, alcohol
Testing Drivers for Evidence of Marijuana Use is Difficult driving, drugged driving, drug testing


More Washington Drivers Use Pot And Drive; Effect On Safety Disputed Washington, driving, Fatalities, car crashes

Analysis of Impaired Drivers - Three years ago, about 19 percent of the samples contained THC, the key ingredient in pot. This year, that percentage is up to 33 percent.  

Washington Traffic Safety Commission Washington, car crashes, driving

Olympia, WA – Newly released data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) shows that marijuana is increasing as a factor in deadly crashes. The number of drivers involved in deadly crashes who tested positive for marijuana increased 48 percent from 2013 to 2014. 
“This study is a step towards answering the myriad of questions we have about the impact of legalized marijuana on driving.

The Futile Search for the “Right” THC per se Level alcohol, driving, impaired

THC is a large, fat-soluble molecule whose concentration in the blood rapidly drops as it is sequestered into the body’s fat stores, including the brain.  Immediately after smoking a joint, the THC level will be very high in the blood and very low in the brain.  The THC level in the brain climbs rapidly at the same time that as it is declining in the blood.  At some point, the concentrations cross, and the concentration continues to rise in the brain while it is still declining in the blood, since the brain acts like a sponge, soaking up the partially insoluble THC from the blood.  

Florida Highway Safety & Motor Vehicle Report 2014 Florida, Report, driving
Study analyzes how much pot impairs drivers impaired, driving, car crashes, TODAY, Studies

"But what we've found out is that as alcohol-impaired driving is going down, drug-impaired driving is going up." 

  • THC moves more rapidly than alcohol out of the bloodstream and into the body, making it harder to detect accurately with a blood test.
What level of THC in blood causes driving impairment? driving, impaired, drug testing


AAA Fatal Crash AAA, driving, Fatalities

Cannabis and alcohol acutely impair several driving-related skills in a dose-related fashion, but the effects of cannabis vary more between individuals than they do with alcohol because of tolerance, differences in smoking technique, and different absorptions of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. 

Cannabis / Marijuana ( Δ 9 -Tetrahydrocannabinol, THC) NHTSA, THC, Pharmacokinetics, driving

Decreased car handling performance, increased reaction times, impaired time and distance estimation, inability to maintain headway, lateral travel, subjective sleepiness, motor incoordination, and impaired sustained vigilance have all been reported. Some drivers may actually be able to improve performance for brief periods by overcompensating for self-perceived impairment. The greater the demands placed on the driver, however, the more critical the likely impairment. Marijuana may particularly impair monotonous and prolonged driving. Decision times to evaluate situations and determine appropriate responses increase. Mixing alcohol and marijuana may dramatically produce effects greater than either drug on its own.

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