STONED DRIVERS DEFENDED

A stoned driver is a safer driver, B.C.'s leading marijuana advocate
says.

"Cannabis will likely improve your driving," Marc Emery, president of
the B.C. Marijuana Party, said Tuesday. "Marijuana doesn't impair you
in driving.

"People don't speed on pot. People go slower, they're more cautious.
They're not in a rush to get to where they're going."

On Monday, the federal government reintroduced legislation to
decriminalize pot possession for personal use, and retabled a bill to
give police the power to make drivers submit to drug testing.

Emery argued that his experience in the marijuana culture shows
driving while high is safe.

"I've smoked every day of my life and I've driven. I've never had an
accident in 26 years of driving," he said.

"I've been around pot people all my life and I don't know anybody
who's had an accident while they've been stoned."

His logic doesn't fly with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"The guy doesn't know what he's talking about," said MADD Canada CEO
Andrew Murie.

"(He's) using that old '70s thing, 'Oh, man, you know, I'm so
relaxed.' But you know, if you're so relaxed, and a life-and-death
situation appears in front of you, you can't react to that.

"Who sanctioned mellow drivers as the best drivers? We want people
alert, in full use of their faculties."

Vancouver RCMP forensic toxicologist Rick Ulrich said scientific
studies have shown marijuana, which has an active ingredient called
THC, is "the No. 2 drug behind alcohol in fatal accidents."