Citation

Cohen S. Abstr. Alcohol Driving 1980; (9).

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, UCLA Alcohol Research Center and UCLA Brain Information Service)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since smoking cannabis (marijuana) is predominantly a young adult activity, learning to drive and to cope with a "stoned" state at the same time compounds driving risk. Also common is the combined use of alcohol and marijuana, producing additive effects. Although users generally express the belief that marijuana impairs their driving ability, many nevertheless drive after drug use. In addition to impaired perception and psychomotor performance, attentional failure accounts for much of the marijuana-induced driving impairment. Performance decrements may persist for some hours after "recovery" from the subjective effects of marijuana. The impact of marijuana use on driving ability is dose-related. Enforcement authorities are considering a scale of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the drug's active ingredient) in the blood or breath that may correlate with blood alcohol levels as indicators of driving under the influence, although the metabolism of THC is more complex than that of alcohol.

Keywords: Cannabis impaired driving