One in seven drivers in Washington State with children in his car recently used marijuana

PISCATAWAY, NJ – According to a roadside survey in the state of Washington, 14.1% of drivers with children in the car, nearly one in seven, were THC positive, the main psychoactive compound of marijuana. The results are published in the last issue of Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Because detecting THC in the blood or in saliva does not correspond to a disability, unlike a positive alcohol test, it is unclear whether these drivers were actively weakened by THC. Nevertheless, the study highlights the potential for increased impaired driving and risks for children for states considering legalizing marijuana, as well as the need to improve testing for marijuana. Roadside THC screening.

"Currently, various tests are being developed and validated to detect the presence of drugs, including saliva and even respiratory tests to detect THC," according to study coauthor, Angela Eichelberger, Ph. D., Institute of Insurance for Road Safety. "However, reliable and valid measures of disability are still needed."

For his research, the group, led by Eduardo Romano, Ph.D., of the Pacific Research and Evaluation Institute, badyzed data from a road survey conducted in 2014 in addition to 2,000 drivers aged 21 and over in the state of Washington. 2015, after the legalization of marijuana sales for recreational purposes.

During the day and at night, researchers asked drivers for traffic lights and stop signs if they wanted to volunteer for the study. They took breath samples, blood and saliva samples from the volunteers and found out if any children were present in the car. They also asked the drivers about their attitudes towards the use of substances.

Whether or not drivers have a child in the car appears to affect their choice to drive while impaired by alcohol (ie, have an alcohol level higher than 0.08%).

"Encouragingly, we … found that among those with children [in the car]most did not drink or drive, "say the authors, none of the volunteers in the study had breath alcohol levels greater than 0.08% if they had a child in the vehicle. But nearly 1% of those without children exceeded this legal limit, and only 0.2% of child drivers had alcohol in their system compared to 4%. 5% of drivers without children.

However, having a child in the car does not affect the fact that drivers have THC in their system. More than 14% of drivers with a child in the car had a THC test, but 17.7% of drivers without children in the car, which is not a statistically significant difference.

The authors also found that most respondents said that marijuana "very likely" affects driving. Nevertheless, some drivers did not recognize the risk of impairment, and those who felt that marijuana was not likely to impair driving were more likely than other drivers to have a positive THC test. Of the drivers whose children thought marijuana was not affecting, 40.6% had a positive THC test result. Eichelberger notes that his previous research has shown that people tend to think that marijuana is less likely to impair driving than alcohol.

"States must take into account multiple factors when legalizing marijuana," says co-author Tara Kelley-Baker, Ph.D., of the AAA Foundation for Road Safety in Washington, DC. "Although there are legal age limits for the purchase and use, we have learned from previous research dealing with issues of endangering children that very young people children are really vulnerable to driver disabilities, state policies protecting young children from alcohol-impaired drivers are ineffective, another drug that may increase risk for the most vulnerable group. "

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The study was funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Road Safety.

To schedule an interview with Angela Eichelberger, please contact Russ Rader at (703) 247-1530 or [email protected].

Romano, E., Kelley-Baker, T., Hoff, S., Eichelberger, A. and Ramirez, A. (2019). Consumption of alcohol and cannabis among adults who drive children in the state of Washington. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 80, 196-200. doi: 10.15288 / jsad.2019.80.196

the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is published by the Center for Studies in Alcohol at Rutgers, New Jersey State University. It is the oldest review of substances published in the United States.

For more information on education and training opportunities for addiction counselors and others at the Rutgers Center for Alcohol Studies, please visit https: //education.alcohol studies.the rutgers.Edu.

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