Reader: Drunk Drivers Kill, Stoned Drivers Miss Their Exits

The Colorado Department of Transportation is continuing its Cannabis Conversation, a campaign designed to raise awareness of the hazards of marijuana-impaired driving.

It’s taken the project to concerts and festivals, and hosted a workshop at the University of Denver on May 21 to address the issue. If the project’s goal is to get people talking, it’s certainly succeeded.

But the conversation might not be what CDOT intended. Says Scott:

Yawn, yawn, yawn…. It’s nothing like driving drunk or distracted, but let’s keep pretending it is.

Adds Chris: 

Drunk drivers kill people. Stoned drivers miss their exits.

Notes Neak:

 I do my best driving stoned.

Replies Jacob:

 I ONLY drive stoned. It’s for the good of everyone, though. It minimizes the road rage I get from all of these fools who aren’t intelligent enough to understand how a freeway works.

Comments Deanna: 

I would trust an army of stoned drivers over all of you I-am-so-important-I-must-have-my-phone-on-my-steering-wheel-and-in-my-face drivers out there. I would like to see CDOT enforce the no-texting or cell-phone rule….You want people to stop dying, the marijuana is nothing compared to the cell phone.

Suggests Robert: 

It’s more dangerous to drive tired then stoned.

Suggests Matthew:

 More like Colorado wants to inform you that there’s a bunch of fucking morons that come here and get way too stoned while they drive around in rental cars with red license plates and inadequate traction.

Comments Edward:

When you smoke marijuana, some people drive better than people on Xanax or Oxi and depression meds.

Responds John: 

You drive intentionally impaired, no matter the substance, and you are a raging piece of shit.

Suggests Wesley:

 Let’s start with scientific data that shows how weed effects driving…

Concludes Ryan: 

Nothing to see here, folks. False crisis. Manufactured outcry. I’ve driven professionally in each of the 48 contiguous states, and the worst way to drive is tired. Impairment from cannabis use is not absolute; it is relative to a person’s tolerance and physical makeup. The time, energy and resources being used to focus on and “fight” stoned driving could be redirected elsewhere and put to far more effective use. Cannabis is, whether you like it or not, one of the reasons our economy in Colorado is so strong. If you fall into the “don’t like” category… too bad.

Keep reading for more on marijuana and driving.

“Is Eye Movement the Key to Detecting Stoned Driving?”

“Why It’s So Hard to Figure Out the Real Dangers of Stoned Driving”

“Five Questions That Legal Pot and Colorado Face About Stoned Driving”

The DU workshop included two sessions, with stakeholders in the pot industry and impaired-driving awareness groups discussing possible questions that CDOT should put before the public regarding marijuana use. These were narrowed down to five basic questions:

What research should be done on a federal, state and academic level about marijuana? What alternatives are there instead of driving while high? How should we teach children about marijuana-impaired driving through education campaigns? How can we provide more information to the public about marijuana impairment and consumption methods? How can the marijuana industry and related organizations  create a unified message about impaired driving?

What do you think of CDOT’s efforts? Post a comment or email your thoughts to marijuana@westword.com.