On July 15, 2015, two stoned driver accidents — one fatal — occurred in Spokane, Washington, on the same day. A motorcyclist was seriously injured in the first accident. An hour and a half later, a bicyclist killed was killed.
The state of Washington leads the nation with 27% of their fatal accidents being caused by drivers using marijuana, according to Phillip Drum, PharmD. (In 2013 there Continue reading Washington State Leads the Nation in Stoned Driver Fatalities
Drunk driving fatalities are going down across the country, but drug-impaired driving is increasing. Since Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana, there has been a noticeable increase in deaths caused by stoned drivers — especially in those states and but in other states, too. By 2020, MADD estimates that drugged driving will overtake drunk driving as a cause of impaired driving accidents. Marijuana is the drug most often cited for DUIs involving drugs.
According to Ed Wood of DUID Victim Voices:
“A link between THC blood levels and impairment may never be
developed comparable to the relationship that exists for alcohol.
Alcohol and marijuana are very distinct in terms of chemical makeup, body metabolism, and psycho-motor impairment and therefore should not be compared. Continue reading Stoned Driving Can’t be Measured As Well as Drunk Driving
A study published in the December issue of Biological Psychiatry attempts to understand how the THC in marijuana creates psychosis-like effects, similar to those in schizophrenia. A different study, published in Europe, looked into the brain fibers of those who use high-potency marijuana and how they differ from non-users, specifically addressing how the two sides of the brain communicate. The authors concluded that “frequent use of high-potency cannabis is associated with disturbed callosal microstructural organization in individuals with and without psychosis.”
The American study, announced in a medical bulletin of December 3, reports that ∆9-THC increases random neural activity, termed neural noise, in the brains of healthy human subjects. The findings suggest that increased neural noise may play a role in the psychosis-like effects of cannabis. Continue reading THC Increases Neural Noise in Brain Similar to Schizophrenia
(Read Part1 of this series on older children with pot-using parents. Upload our fact sheet about children’s death related to marijuana use.)
Infants and toddlers are vulnerable to negligence and abuse by marijuana-using parents. How are older children vulnerable? In Gresham, Oregon on September 25, a mother suffering from anxiety who used marijuana several times a day, shot and killed her 17-year-old son. The recently-divorced mom was losing her home, had quit her job and was suffering from anxiety. The stress of her situation is understandable, but marijuana is the wrong way to cope with stress. It ultimately increases anxiety and can lead to psychosis, too.
Another big problem is butane hash oil fires. Two years ago in Medford, Oregon, a 12-year old girl jumped out of the second story window and sustained several broken bones Continue reading BHO Fires, Other Dangers for Older Children of Stoner Parents
