Spate of drugged driving deaths alarms U.S. regulators

[Bill USA]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/10/27/drugged-driving-dui-nhtsa-auto-safety/92678186/
(emphases my own)

The percentage of traffic deaths in which at least one driver tested positive for drugs has nearly doubled over a decade, raising alarms as five states are set to vote on legalization of marijuana.

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Amid a disquieting increase in overall U.S. traffic fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has tracked an upswing in the percentage of drivers testing positive for illegal drugs and prescription medications, according to federal data released to USA TODAY and interviews with leaders in the field.

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One victim, according to prosecutors, was David Aggio of California. He was killed March 8, 2014, when Rodolfo Alberto Contreras, who was high on marijuana, ran a red light at nearly 80 mph, crossed the center divider and demolished Aggio's Ford Explorer, prosecutors said.

Contreras in June became the first drugged driver in California to be convicted of second-degree murder. According to California prosecutors, his response at the scene of the crime, when confronted about the incident, was: "I want my weed."
(more)

[dubyadiprecession]

1. There's always some as*%#@e out there, to ruin it for the rest of us!

[Warpy]

2. Complete tox screen, please. High speed crashes are inconsistent with cannabis, alone.

Stoners drive people nuts on the road because they know they're impaired and drive like they're 90 years old, very slowly.

As for the guy who wanted to safeguard his weed, how do you know he wasn't in chronic pain or sick from chemo or HIV? What other substances showed up in his tox screen?

I would like to see an honest article with a substance breakdown: how much of this stuff involved people using cannabis alone, how much involved people on prescribed medication, how much involved people who are also drinking, and how much involved people who test positive for a variety of substances. We really need that kind of information.

This article is just "save our jobs!" DEA propaganda that is conflating one hell of a lot of stuff. They love having cannabis illegal: it's big and bulky and has a characteristic odor and is therefore an easy bust.

[Bill USA]

3. that's what I was thinking. I would expect people high on Pot to be driving at about 15 mph saying -

"Hey dude, this is so wild."

[egeorgequi]

6. 'DEA Save my job bullshit' => Check

It wasn't the pot.

[Nitram]

4. There will always be reckless idiots. It's not the weed that did it. It's the driver.

[Moral Compass]

5. The latest scare tactic

It is always something. One story used to try and prove a general case. Like all logical fallacies this will fall apart upon examination.

This reminds me of all the stories about LSD. Two headed babies! People who blinded themselves staring at the sun!

Now we'll have hordes of shambling stoners driving under the influence. We're all gonna die!

I'd like to know how much coke or meth was in this guy's blood because stoners don't run lights at 80 mph. I could see 15-20 mph. Personal experience.

There is no good reason to keep marijuana illegal. There will be some who drive when they shouldn't just as people drive when they drink. Putting thousands in prison every year for using a drug is far worse than what will happen when marijuana is legal.

[kristopher]

7. Much more likely to be alcohol than coke or meth.

Alcohol is implicated in nearly all accidents involving substance abuse.