The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
Marihuana and Driving
TTHE CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE
The literature on drugs and driving contains several references to the role of drugs,
including marihuana, in traffic violations, accidents and fatalities. They differ
considerably, however, in the nature and extent to which they influence or affect driving
behavior (Waller, 1965; Chetta, 1967, Commission on Narcotic Drugs, 1968; Third Triannual
Congress on Traffic Accidents, 1969; Waller, 1970; Klein, Davis and Blackbourne, 1971
National Institute of Mental Health, 1972).
The studies examine the relationship between marihuana and driving and tend to be
either statistical and enumerative with regard to traffic accidents or experimental with
respect to the physiological and psychological effects of marihuana use deemed to be
related to driving skill and performance. All of them suffer to one degree or another from
an overabundance or dearth of extraneous variables and have, therefore, precluded
generalization of the results and the production of conclusive, and valid findings.
The difficulty in interpreting the data gathered from statistical or enumerative
studies of traffic accidents derives primarily from the inability to isolate precise
cause. There are no tissue, urine or blood analysis methods currently and systematically
in use outside the laboratory, similar to those available for alcohol, for determining the
presence of marihuana in the bodily fluids of drivers.
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