“You are going to see more fatalities on the roadways,” Anderson said at a Statehouse meeting of the Marijuana Advisory Commission.
His conclusion came as part of a report he gave to the legislative panel in his role as chair of its highway safety subcommittee. Health Commissioner Mark Levine, another subcommittee chair, also presented Tuesday.
The commission is tasked with reporting back to the legislature with its findings in January.
Legalization of recreational marijuana has been heavily debated in Vermont. A measure passed both the House and Senate earlier this year before Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the bill.
He instead established the Marijuana Advisory Commission to gather and analyze research on various aspects of pot use, including its impact on driving, health, taxes and crime.
Click here to read Tuesday’s reports and presentations.
Anderson presented some analysis on crash data and marijuana use. As of October 23, at least 11 drivers involved in fatal Vermont wrecks this year tested positive for marijuana, he said. Some of those drivers also had alcohol in his or her system.
Anderson said that Vermont data also show that drivers under the influence of marijuana have been involved in more crashes since the state decriminalized the possession of small amounts of weed in 2013.
His subcommittee, though, had trouble researching the impact of marijuana legalization on crime. “It’s not an area where we have great data,” Anderson conceded.
Levine, who chairs the education and prevention subcommittee, said there is moderate evidence to suggest that cannabis use is associated with impaired academic achievement. There’s also evidence that it is associated with development of “acute psychosis” in some users, he said. Frequency of use, and age of the user, is a factor in such associations, the studies showed.
Levine also presented Vermont Health Department data on marijuana-related emergency room visits, which increased from 368 in 2011, to 741 in 2015.
But many questions about cannabis can’t be fully answered because the drug has only been legalized in a few states, Levine said. The federal government considers marijuana a Schedule I drug, meaning its scientific study has been severely hindered.
Bias, mistaken conclusions about cause and effect, and unrepresentative samples are other problems. Still, Levine cited several studies as “authoritative” and included new data released as recently as last week.
One question of interest for many is whether marijuana would help opioid-addicted people. But Levine concluded that there is no solid evidence that marijuana use blunts the risk of fatal overdoses, as some have suggested. There are too many studies “on both sides of the fence” to come to a firm conclusion on the issue, Levine said.
Several members of the committee asked questions about the details and reliability of the research. Assembling as much information as possible will help lawmakers as the debate around pot ramps up during the coming legislative session, said Rep. Ann Pugh (D-South Burlington).
“I’m trying to make sense of the data,” Pugh told Seven Days after the meeting. She has supported legalizing medical — but not recreational — marijuana.
The Marijuana Advisory Commission made no recommendations on Tuesday.
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VT is in the dark ages. These people are fools. Cannabis stays in your system longer than other drugs. Plus, people are already consuming cannabis and driving now. When will the politicians listen to the people?
People in Vermont already drive like their stoned. I still can’t get over that most people are genuinely surprised when the light turns green. Forget about anyone pulling out if there is no light.
they’re
Reefer madness all over again. How did vermont go back to the 1950s?
We previously dug into these numbers in great detail on Heady Vermont, here are a few important pieces that should also be considered:
+ Vermont is presently in the top 10% nationally for safest roads in the country.
+ The number of ALL traffic deaths in Vermont is roughly half the number of suicide deaths annually.
+ The cause of traffic deaths in Vermont attributed to marijuana means that the autopsy included a blood test that showed ANY traces of THC with zero indication of actual impairment. Leading causes of road deaths in Vermont: speed, no seatbelts, alcohol; THC related roadside deaths are identical to motorcycles.
+ Vermont is ALREADY #3 in the country for percentage of the population that have used cannabis in the last month; cannabis is already widely used in this state.
+ The State of Vermont has already spent over $120,000 on a drugged driving media campaign and to fund an “impaired driving coordinator” who spent taxpayer money to host an impaired driving summit last fall.
Any readers (and reporters) that want more details or to use these statistics to combat the ridiculous Reefer Madness statements coming from the Scott administration with actual facts, please feel free to use these statistics and sources, all of which are linked and cited on our original Heady Vermont reporting : http://headyvermont.com/much-ado-about-not…
How could you not push back on Levine’s comments regarding opioid overdose deaths and marijuana legalization? He said there’s “studies on both side of the fence.” Did you ask him to provide proof? Because we haven’t seen evidence that marijuana legalization is causing increased opioid overdoses or deaths – anywhere.
Re: Scott Pavek’s comment about there being no research on cannabis use and opioid use disorder:
“Cannabis Use and the Risk of Prescription Opioid Use Disorder” published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry September 26, 2017.
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/1…
Thanks, John Searles!
re “How could you not push back?” it’s a news story about what administration officials said at a public hearing, not an interview.
From the article:
>>>”11 drivers involved in fatal Vermont wrecks this year tested positive for marijuana, he said. Some of those drivers also had alcohol in his or her system.”
Wow. Such ignorance in elected officials and the “journalists” who report on them. – While alcohol present in the system indicates intoxication and impairment. – “Drug tests” that show marijuana in the system neither indicate intoxication nor impairment. – They only show NON-PSYCHOACTIVE trace metabolites that stay in the system for up to a month.
>>>”Anderson said that Vermont data also show that drivers under the influence of marijuana have been involved in more crashes since the state decriminalized the possession of small amounts of weed in 2013.”
Again, this “data” does NOT show these drivers CAUSED accidents. What likely happened is some unfortunate, non-impaired marijuana consumers were crashed into by drunk, texting or otherwise genuinely impaired driver.
Marijuana is not alcohol. The preponderance of the research shows marijuana consumption is NOT a significant cause of auto accidents. In 2015, the Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk report, produced by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found that while drunken driving dramatically increased the risk of getting into an accident, there was no evidence that using marijuana heightened that risk.
In fact, after adjusting for age, gender, race and alcohol use, the report found that drivers who had recently consumed marijuana were no more likely to crash than drivers who were not intoxicated at all.
Marijuana is not alcohol. The preponderance of the research shows marijuana consumption is NOT a significant cause of auto accidents. In 2015, the Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk report, produced by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found that while drunken driving dramatically increased the risk of getting into an accident, there was no evidence that using marijuana heightened that risk.
In fact, after adjusting for age, gender, race and alcohol use, the report found that drivers who had recently consumed marijuana were no more likely to crash than drivers who were not intoxicated at all.
He doesn’t seem to consider that if marijuana is legal, some people will drink less resulting in less drunk driving… which is far more dangerous.
To state that deaths will rise strikes as as hyperbole approaching dishonesty.
The oil is ok. I hate the smell of that stuff. It stays on peoples clothes and hair. You can smell a pot smoker 20 feet away.
Multiple studies have found that states with safe and legal access to cannabis, as compared to states without it, have seen:
– 16% reduction in opioid-impaired traffic fatalities
– 24% reduction in opiate overdose deaths
– 23% reduction in opioid-related hospitalizations
– $360 million reduction (in 2013 alone) in Medicaid costs for opioid and Benzo prescriptions
Meanwhile, no increase in cannabis-related highway deaths have been found in WA, OR or CO.
I agree that people shouldn’t be driving when they are stoned, but it it worse when they have been drinking. Either one can lead to irrational behavior. But I agree that Vermont is in the stone ages and it should be legalized and see what happens. As far as roadside testing goes that shouldn’t be to hard to do. You can smell the pot on someones breath and if not you can do the dexterity walking test. Also the police can have a blood test done and that will give results what is in the system. The governor is just making excuses up for what ever reason not to pass the bill.
First of all, this information is weak at best. Marijuana in people’s systems isn’t the same as alcohol–alcohol in the blood of a driver means active impairment, inactive non-psychoactive thc metabolites in a drug test can persist for weeks. I’m willing to the numbers basically match the background usage rate for the demographic of the people who were in the accident.
The states with legalized weed may show a 3% increase in collissions overall, but the American Journal of Public Health quotes “We found no significant association between recreational marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado and subsequent changes in motor vehicle crash fatality rates in the first 3 years after recreational marijuana legalization. Now why did they find that info, but other people are saying that the fatality rates are going up? Because Washington and Colorado have seen a huge housing boom because people want to live in legal-weed states. More people means more crashes. Now when you use statistics properly and subtract out things like background demographics, who was under the influence of alcohol, inclement weather, etc., the effect of marijuana goes away. But Tom Anderson has an agenda and a tiny data set.
Regardless, legalizing weed isn’t legalizing driving while impaired.
Second, if you’re going to go down the road of talking about what minor, minor health risks marijuana poses, I see absolutely no reason not to discuss the health risks of the perfectly-legal nicotine and alcohol substances available at every corner store. THC has one of the lowest LD50s of any drug in the pharmacopia. You cannot die from consuming too much pot. But alcohol? You can die from drinking one large bottle of alcohol too fast, and withdrawal from alcohol can be deadly. And nobody is, or should be discussing prohibition of alcohol, because it doesn’t work.
Third, the people by and large want this to be legal. The only people who do NOT are 1) the police unions, because less crime means less jobs, 2) the prison unions, because less petty crimes and “I smell weed stops” means less bigger arrests, and 3) big Pharma, because between medicinal marijuana and CBD oil, you’ve got a basically totally safe drug that can be used to treat anything from anxiety to pain to seizures to cancer, that can’t be patented, that people can grow in their backyard. If it didn’t work so well, they wouldn’t be fighting it so hard.
“at least 11 drivers involved in fatal Vermont wrecks this year tested positive for marijuana”
People have already pointed out the huge problem with this data, but let’s assume that marijuana impairment was a factor in those crashes. Then clearly the current system of prohibition is not working! As of next summer, Vermonters will be able to take a quick drive down to MA to legally purchase cannabis products in a retail store. So these public officials who clearly have zero personal experience with marijuana need to pull their heads out of the sand!
Once again we are facing a commission populated by those who are dead set against legalization. If we continue down this path we will fail to protect the civil rights of many Vermonters. We will end up with corporate containment and control of this plant and Vermonters will continue to be subject to arrest for growing and use of this plant. The “public” hearing was a smoke screen.
It’s 1968 all over again. Narrow-minded so called statistics are moulded into distorted “facts”. The fact is the conservative political mind set that “them dirty hippies ” are out there smoking dope and we got to put a stop to it is utter crap. I’d like to hear Anderson explain how prohibition works for pot but not for alcohol. If it’s so effective for weed why not go back to the 30s? If Anderson was really concerned with the hi way death rate he might want to consider actually enforcing the speed limits by installing speed cameras. Vilifying pot is much easier. Thank you, political hacks.
Pure THC and natural cannabis are used specifically to greatly improve motor function in MS patients!
In Oregon I’ve known plenty of medical and rec afficionados who consume (smoke, vape) one ounce or so each week. They have no problem driving, and they show no sign of intoxication. This is because, as is described by GW Pharmaceuticals, people adapt to regular cannabis use after a couple weeks. Pure THC and natural cannabis are used specifically to greatly improve motor function in MS patients! Find the GW presentation that shows an MS patient’s signature before and after taking THC. Just erratic scribbles before, then perfectly fine after taking THC. Sure, you don’t want to drive after using cannabis, but if you have MS or severe chronic pain, you may be a much better driver if you’re a regular consumer of cannabis.
Will pot increase traffic deaths? Almost certainly. Anyone who says otherwise wants stoners on the road. Studies to the contrary are pro stoner with many words crafted to make pot seem to be a wonder drug, It is simple, If you are stoned on the road, you are a hazard. If kids think it is legal for adults, it must be OK, which is the same problem for alcohol., but pot is harder to detect.
The following article uses several studies by respectable organizations. It very clearly refutes the commissioners position. He needs to check his facts.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/5/18210827/marijuana-traffic-fatality-deaths-transportation-public-health