The Lancet Reports That
Thousands Are Killed In Accidents Caused By Tranquilizers
(Marijuananews note: Recently the Drug Czar
claimed that medical marijuana should be opposed because marijuana use was supposedly the
second leading cause of "car crashes."
See
Las Vegas Paper
Supports Medical Marijuana But Invites The Drug Czar To Lie To Its Readers
Shortly thereafter an Australian study is published that showing that marijuana users were
actually slightly less likely to cause accidents.
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?
Now it turns out the widely used tranquilizers are a significant cause of accidents. Not
everyone who takes these drugs could substitute medical marijuana, but many could, and
this is just more evidence that the suppression of medical marijuana is mass-murder. Is
that not the proper term for a government program of violence and deceit that causes
thousands of deaths?)
See
UK Victims of
Tranquilizers Urge That "Far Safer" Medical Cannabis Be Made Available -- IoS
"More people died from benzodiazepine usage than from such
drugs as heroin and cocaine."
and
The Lancet
Reports That Deaths From Medication Errors More Than Double In Decade
October 23, 1998
From The Toronto Star
lettertoed@thestar.com
http://www.thestar.com/ANTIANXIETY DRUGS LINKED
TO INCREASE IN CAR CRASHES
LONDON (AP) -- Drivers taking commonly prescribed anti-anxiety drugs, such as Valium,
are more than twice as likely to be involved in traffic accidents as those not taking the
drugs, a new study says.
The risk of accidents for people under the age of 45 is more than
three times as great for those who take the drugs, according to the research, published in
today’s edition of the British medical journal The Lancet.
"The current warnings are that if you feel drowsy, don’t drive. That needs to
be changed," said Dr. Tom MacDonald, a clinical pharmacologist from the University of
Dundee in Scotland who led the study.
"I would say: If you use these drugs, don’t drive."
Thousands of lives could be saved worldwide every year, and
hundreds of thousands of traffic accidents avoided, if people who use such drugs did not
drive while on medication, the researchers said.
Tranquillizers such as Valium, the drug generically known as diazepam, are commonly
used to treat anxiety, other stress-related disorders and muscle spasms.
They are the most commonly prescribed type of tranquilizers,
with 18 million prescriptions in Britain alone in 1997.
(Marijuananews note: This does not mean that 18 million Brits have prescriptions, but
presumably several million do. No wonder they drive on the wrong side of the road!)
Worldwide figures were not available.
Copyright: 1998, The Toronto Star
Supported