Alcohol:
Alcohol Concern's 'The State of the
Nation' report:
"One in seven people killed on the roads are
involved in drink-drive accidents".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1656142.stm
Department of Transport's 1998
campaign against drink-driving:
"3,500 people are killed or seriously injured
each year in drink drive accidents".
www.think.dft.gov.uk/drinkdrive/ddc98/leaflet.htm
"….road accidents where drink is a
factor account for a further [cost to society of] £189m."
http://society.guardian.co.uk/drugsandalcohol/story/0,8150,410967,00.html
Cannabis:
The World Health Organisation's
report 'Cannabis: a health perspective and research
agenda':
"The epidemiological studies indicate
that in its own right, cannabis makes at most a very
small contribution to motor vehicle accidents, and so
on the whole it may seem be a minor road safety
problem by comparison with alcohol."
www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/general/who-magnitude.htm
The World Health Organisation's
report 'Cannabis: a health perspective and research
agenda':
"Blood levels of cannabinoids do not
indicate whether a driver or pedestrian was
intoxicated with cannabis at the time of an accident."
www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/general/who-probable.htm
Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs report 'The classification of cannabis under
the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971':
"4.3.6 Cannabis differs from alcohol, however,
in one major respect: it seems not to increase risk-taking
behaviour. This may explain why it appears to play a
smaller role than alcohol in road traffic accidents."
www.doh.gov.uk/drugs/acmd/cannabisreportmar02.pdf
UK Department of Transport's
'Influence of Cannabis on Driving':
"...under the influence of cannabis,
users are acutely aware of their impairment."
"It is also interesting to note that, despite
participants having smoked some form of cannabis
before 42 of these examinations, on only 11 occasions
did the FME consider the participant to be impaired.
This finding could have implications for the number
of cases that will be detected by the Field
Impairment Testing recently launched in the UK by the
police." [FME = Forensic medical examiner.]
www.roads.detr.gov.uk/roadsafety/research16/index.htm
UK Department of Transport's
'Cannabis & Driving' review:
www.roads.detr.gov.uk/roadsafety/cannabis/index.htm
New Scientist:
"The first thing the researchers noticed was
that the subjects drove more slowly under the
influence of dope, compensating for their
intoxication by driving more cautiously. Tracking
ability was the only test criterion that was
adversely affected: the volunteers found it very
difficult to follow a figure-of-eight loop of road
when given a high dose. Reaction times to motorway
hazards and performance on cognitive tests in the lab
were not significantly affected. Trials previously
completed under similar test conditions at the TRL
have shown that alcohol and tiredness have a more
adverse effect on driving ability, affecting higher
cognitive processes. The results of the cannabis and
driving study agree with similar research carried out
in Australia, the US and Holland."
www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992063
New Scientist referring to
Transport Research Laboratory (UK) research:
"A SINGLE glass of wine will impair your driving
more than smoking a joint." "…drivers
on cannabis tended to be aware of their intoxicated
state, and drove more cautiously to compensate.
Indeed, doped-up volunteers often rated themselves as
being more impaired than police surgeons brought in
to evaluate their sobriety. Surprisingly, drinking
alcohol didn't offset this cautious behaviour,
opening up the unproven possibility that a driver who
is moderately drunk might be better off under some
conditions if they had also smoked."
www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992063
Tobacco:
New Scientist:
SMOKERS would be wise to wear nicotine patches
during exams, according to a study of their ability
to concentrate under pressure.
Elliot Stein at the Medical College of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee, and his colleagues scanned the brains of
smokers with and without nicotine patches while they
performed complex cognitive tasks. Those deprived of
the drug for just two hours showed suppressed
activity in brain regions associated with visual
attention (Neuron, vol 36, p 539).
"Even if they appear to be functioning, these
people are on the edge," says Stein. Smokers
deprived of a fix also found the tasks more
emotionally draining.
New Scientist, 'Concentration fix',
vol 176, issue 2367 - 02 November 2002,
page 25
Links:
Department of Transport's 'Cannabis
and Driving: A Review of the Literature':
www.roads.dft.gov.uk/roadsafety/cannabis
Department of Transport's Drink
Driving Campaign: www.think.dft.gov.uk/drinkdrive/index.htm
