"Horrified churchman and
community leaders ….
point to a new study showing that more than one in five drivers
who died had been smoking marijuana in the hours before they crashed."
Really Wretched Journalism Distorts A Study. -- 2 Articles
(Marijuananews note: This first item from the
Calgary Herald ran in some of the other Southam papers in Canada. It is truly wretched.) December
15, 1999
From The Calgary Herald
letters@theherald.southam.ca
http://www.calgaryherald.com/
http://forums.canada.com/~calgary
By Paul Chapman - Wellington
RASTA MP WANTS DOPE
(Marijuananews note: Hack wants pay check.)
A newly elected Rastafarian MP has caused a political storm in New Zealand by vowing to
carry on smoking marijuana after taking office and demanding that the drug be made legal.
See
New Zealand Police
Minister On the Marijuana Laws:
"My own personal feeling is that it is costing a huge amount of police time at the
moment."
NZ Psychologist Remembers Being Arrested Ten Years Ago For Saying That He Smoked.
– 2 Articles
and links
Nandor Tanczos, 35, joins six fellow MPs of the Green Party in holding the balance of
power in parliament.
Under the country's complex system of proportional representation, the Greens have gone
from having no representation on election night last month to pushing the Labour-Alliance
coalition, led by Helen Clark, into minority government with 59 of the 120 seats.
The Green Party supports Tanczos's stance on marijuana and its plans have horrified churchman and community leaders, who point to a new study
showing that more than one in five drivers who died had been smoking marijuana in the
hours before they crashed.
See
Canadian Study
Confirms That Marijuana Impairs Driving Far Less Than Alcohol
(Marijuananews note: Were all of the "churchman [sic] and community leaders"
in all of New Zealand really horrified? How many did he interview? Why would a
"churchman" have any particular expertise on traffic accidents?)
Use of marijuana is wide-spread in New Zealand but it remains illegal.
(Marijuananews note: Marijuana prohibition does not seem to be
working.)
Tanczos claims to smoke the drug about once a week as part of his religion.
Copyright: 1999 Calgary Herald
December 13, 1999
From The New Zealand Press
editorial@press.co.nz
http://www.press.co.nz/
CANNABIS FACTOR IN FATALITIES
AUCKLAND - More than one in five drivers who died on the roads in a two-year period had
been smoking cannabis in the hours before they crashed, a new study
has found.
(Marijuananews note: I am writing this in the hours since my birth,
over half a million hours, but whatever…
Actually, that sentence, which was widely quoted is -- along
with the headline -- the only really misleading part of the story. It is taken out of
context, but the rest is pretty good.)
As the Labour-led Government pledges to review cannabis laws, the marijuana study paid for
by the Land Transport Safety Authority has sparked calls for further research into the
hazards of the drug and driving. Researchers say that, when combined
with alcohol, cannabis and cars are a lethal mix.
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research study found 82
of a sample of 386 drivers killed in fatal road accidents from 1995 to 1997 had cannabis in their bloodstreams.
(Marijuananews note: ESR’s web site is http://www.esr.cri.nz/ but the
study has not been posted there yet.)
Fifty-four per cent of the cannabis smokers were over the
legal alcohol limit. A further 10 per cent had been drinking but were legally allowed to
drive.
ESR scientist Helen Poulsen, who headed the study, said she was surprised at the high
number of cannabis smokers among the victims. The forensic toxicologist said cannabis
mixed with alcohol was dangerous for drivers because the drug seemed to make drinkers more
drunk.
While the tests indicated the drivers had smoked at least
12 to 24 hours before the crash, "if they were heavy smokers, we could pick it up two
to three days afterwards".
(Marijuananews note: In other words, almost two thirds of the marijuana using fatalities
were also using alcohol, and more than half of them were legally drunk.
Only ten percent -- or eight fatalities -- were using alcohol at a level below the
legal limit and had used marijuana at some point in the last few days. Thus, inasmuch as
alcohol alone is a frequent cause of accidents, the conclusion that the combination of
alcohol and marijuana is particularly dangerous is supported only by a very small sample.
I think that the effects of marijuana and alcohol may sometimes be dangerously
synergistic, but that conclusion cannot be proven by a sample of eight.
Moreover, just 36 percent of this sample had been using marijuana only, assuming that
they also tested negative for other drugs. Thus only 30 of the fatalities out of 386 -- or
roughly 8% of the total number of fatalities -- had been using cannabis only at some point
within 12 to 24 hours, and possibly up to 3 days prior to the accident. And most of
the effects of marijuana use wears off fairly soon after smoking.
Now if only 8% of the fatalities had used marijuana only, and even if they were to
blame for the accidents which killed them, which was not established by this study,
then marijuana-only users may not be at any greater risk than others in their age cohort.)
See
Australian Study Of 2,500
Injured Drivers Showed Those Who Used Marijuana
Less Likely To Have Caused Accident Than Even Drug-Free Drivers
– But How Do The Swedish Prohibitionists Report It?
and
1994 Dutch
Study On "Marijuana Use And Driving" In Real World Conditions
Former ESR scientist John Bailey, who also worked on the study, said most of the cannabis smokers who died on the roads were males in their
30s.
(Marijuananews note: That surprises me a little, in that I
would have thought that they would be more likely to be younger, in their twenties.)
"What we found is that drivers who smoked cannabis and drank alcohol were worse
drivers. It seems to exaggerate the effects of alcohol and makes your driving worse,"
he said.
The marijuana smokers were not speeding as much as the drinking
drivers.
"We certainly need more research into this. It's a complex issue.
We're not sure if the cannabis is important or
whether it's lifestyle factors, such as careless driving."
(Marijuananews note: Would the "churchman and
community leaders" be horrified by that?"
Copyright: 1999 The Christchurch Press Company Ltd.
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