Drinking remains the number one cause of accidents and deaths from impaired driving. However, an increasing number of drivers are testing positive for marijuana. Here are the latest reports on this growing public safety concern.
Elizabeth Kemble, a widely admired advocate for kidney health in Oregon, was out for a walk following her third kidney transplant when she was killed by a driver who admitted to smoking marijuana minutes earlier. Debra Majkut, an Ohio mother of two, was sitting on her couch with her children and a nephew when a woman high on pot crashed into Majkut’s home, killing her and seriously injuring her infant son.
Nightmare scenarios like these are exactly what safety advocates predict will become commonplace on our nation’s roads as the list of states legalizing marijuana for either recreational or medicinal use continues to grow. But instead of clearing the smoke, conflicting studies and a patchwork of state laws have complicated this issue for all of us concerned about impaired driving.