DOPE DEATH FIGURES 'GROSSLY MISLEADING'

HEALTH MINISTRY figures showing there was only one cannabis-related death in
the three years to 1996 were grossly misleading, road safety researcher John
Bailey said yesterday.

The figures, issued on Monday, suggested there had been 419 alcohol-related
deaths, and a further 509 in which alcohol might have been responsible for
fatal road crashes, drownings, falls or suicides.

But Dr Bailey said a study he and his wife, Margaret, made of 438 drivers
who died in crashes from 1995 till 1997 found the blood of 35 per cent of
those affected by alcohol had also contained tetrahydrocannabinol, the
active ingredient of cannabis.

"There were lots more in which it could have been an underlying cause ... I
don't want people to think cannabis is not a problem in road deaths."

Forty-five per cent of people with very high blood-alcohol counts, some of
whom had previous convictions for drink-driving, also had cannabis in their
blood, he said.

The single death might have been from an overdose, but the study showed
cannabis could have contributed to many more road deaths, as well as murders
and suicides.

"There's been a lot of debate about cannabis lately and some of it's a bit
misleading."

Mixing drugs could be dangerous because of the unpredictable way they
interacted Dr Bailey said. He hoped to repeat the study soon to back
arguments for mandatory testing for cannabis as well as alcohol.