A considerable proportion of people who smoke pot have rather blasé attitudes towards driving while high, with surveys showing many users are convinced the drug doesn’t impair their ability to drive safely.
Now, a new Canadian study suggests using pot before driving increases the risk of a crash even five hours after inhaling.
McGill University researchers found that performance in key areas such as reaction time decreased significantly, and that the effects lasted up to five hours after inhaling the equivalent of one typical joint.
Simple driving tasks were largely unaffected, but once the situation became even complicated with normal distractions, that’s when the wheels started coming off, according to the paper published in CMAJ Open Monday, two days before Canada’s prohibition on recreational marijuana is lifted.
Sharon Kirkey – National Post – October 15, 2018.
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