OFFICIALS: MARIJUANA, DRIVING IS DEADLY

A Lethal Mix On The Roads. Pot Similar To Alcohol On Driving; Officials Say
It's An Issue In G.I.

The Drug Recognition Experts of the Grand Island Police Department are
trained to recognize the effects of drugs on a person. Of the 18 traffic
stops the seven officers have made this year in which a person was driving
under the influence of one or more drugs, all have something in common.

"Marijuana has been a component in all of them," Sgt. Dale Hildebrandt
said. "Oftentimes it's a poly-drug situation where the person is on more
than one, but all of them included marijuana."

Preconceptions aside, marijuana slows reaction time, makes it harder to
concentrate and generally has the same effects as alcohol on driving,
Hildebrandt said. While there have been only 18 stops this year,
considering the number of DREs in proportion to the number of stops,
Hildebrandt said it's definitely an issue in Grand Island.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy agrees. The
organization started the "Steer Clear of Pot," campaign in September aimed
at informing young people of the dangers of driving under the influence.
The program is nationwide, but Brian Blake, a spokesperson for the ONDCP,
said it's a battle that needs to be fought on a local and national level.

"For the past year the administration has been trying to educate the public
about marijuana and driving," he said. "The problem is people have had
'don't drink and drive' pounded into their heads for 20 years. We need to
do the same thing with marijuana, from the schoolhouse to the statehouse."

Given some of the statistics on the issue, it appears as if Blake has a
point. In 2001, 34.7 percent of high school students in Nebraska reported
using marijuana, with 5.8 percent using it before the age of 13.
Nationally, 38,000 high school students reported that they crashed while
driving under the influence of marijuana in 2001.

The culture tells children that a high driver poses little threat, Blake
said. Getting the contrary message out to youths is an important thing to
do, given the number using the drug.

"There's definitely a problem out there," Blake said. "Marijuana and
driving is something we felt wasn't being touched on."

Blake said for more information, parents or youths can go
to http://www.TheAntiDrug.com.

Another reason to get the message to every school, DMV and driving
instructor in the country, Blake said, is that teens are still learning the
rules of the road most times. Throwing marijuana into the mix usually is
dangerous.

Hildebrandt said a good number of those pulled over for driving under the
influence of a drug other than alcohol are youths, and educating them about
the dangers is never a bad idea. In his experience, youths under the
influence are usually unaware of the problem driving on a drug presents.

"Most of them, if you ask, will tell you they're high," he said. "They
shrug their shoulders and ask, 'What's the big deal? It's just pot.'"

That attitude is a big part of the problem, Hildebrandt said. While their
numbers aren't going through the roof, those driving under the influence of
marijuana often constitute an accident waiting to happen.

"It's prevalent," he said. "We have goals of educating more officers, but
educating the public is also good."