Studies involving 49,411 people found that smoking pot within 3 hours of driving increased the risk of motor vehicle collisions by 92% compared with unimpaired driving. All collisions involved in the study took place on a public road and involved one or more moving vehicles such as cars, vans, SUVs, trucks, buses, and motorcycles. Use of marijuana was determined through blood tests or admission by the driver that he had been smoking pot.
CANNABIS COULD DOUBLE DRIVERS’ RISK OF SERIOUS CRASH, SAYS BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL REPORT
Review of nine studies finds risk rises if drivers smoke cannabis less than three hours before getting behind wheel
The Guardian
February 9, 2012
Smoking cannabis within three hours of getting behind the wheel could almost double the risk of a serious crash, according to research published on Thursday in the British Medical Journal.
A review of nine studies found that drivers were more likely to be involved in a collision with another car after smoking marijuana.
Figures show there are around 3 million users of cannabis in the UK aged 16 to 59.
The research found cannabis use resulted in a "near doubling of risk of a driver being involved in a collision resulting in serious injury or death".
The researchers, from Dalhousie University in Canada, said, however, that the impact of cannabis consumption "on the risk of minor crashes remains unclear".
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