NO EFFECT

Dear Editor:

I write regarding the recent article expressing concern that drivers
may be impaired by marijuana. While some opposed to marijuana use are
quick to point out that those under its influence tend to perform
poorly in simulated tests, studies analyzing the performance of
drivers on the road show that marijuana use has little or no effect on
highway accidents.

For example, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
concluded in a 1993 study that marijuana's effects never exceeded that
of a blood alcohol level of 0.08% (the cutoff point for driving in
many U.S. states).

Other studies have shown that driving under the influence of marijuana
is even more benign. A study conducted at the Victorian Institute of
Forensic Pathology at Monash University (South Melbourne, Australia)
which analyzed the impact of drug use on over one thousand fatally
injured drivers stated "It was of some interest that cannabis tended
to show a negative effect on relative risk when other drug groups
showed an increase. This phenomenon has also been seen elsewhere
[Terhune et al, 1992; Williams et al, 1985]."

It is important to keep the results of studies such as these in mind
when considering what should be legislated and where money should be
spent.

Leroy Casterline

Fort Collins, Colorado

(Opinion backed up by facts, now that's a letter. Still, if the point
of smoking marijuana is too get high, it is difficult to believe there
is no impairment -- Ed.)