CRASH RISK IS DRIVER, NOT DRUG

NEW research into marijuana use and car crash injury suggests the drug
does not cause accidents, it is more the personalities of the risk
takers who use it.

A five-year study, to be published later this year, shows habitual
users who get stoned more than seven times a week are 10 times more
likely to die in a crash than occasional users who drive under its
influence.

"What we actually found was that habitual marijuana use is a strong
predictor of a car crash," University of Sydney research fellow
Stephanie Blows told the Australian Epidemiology Association's annual
conference at the University of WA yesterday.

"The effect of the drug was not as strong as we thought and this is
because marijuana use per se is not a strong risk factor."

Habitual marijuana use was a strong indicator of risk-taking but other
risk factors such as alcohol and speed were more likely to contribute
to a crash.

The research related to more than 1000 drivers from car crashes in
Auckland, about 6 per cent of whom took marijuana in the three hours
before the crash. Of these drivers, 10 per cent were habitual
marijuana users.

Dr Blows said the findings added to a growing pool of research to help
guide government policy. But studies were hampered by the small
number of drivers who used marijuana and the need for blood tests to
confirm a driver was under its influence.

The Victorian Government announced this month it would introduce the
world's first random roadside drug tests next year.

"I think the importance of this research is showing that it is
probably misguided to just focus on drug use," Dr Blows said. "You
have got to look at the type of person who takes the drug and then
gets behind the wheel."

Also yesterday, a conference in Melbourne was told servies for
psychotic people put too much emphasis on getting them off drugs such
as cannabis, amphetamines and alcohol.

A newer school of thought says they should be encouraged to learn ways
to manage drug use, such as substituting a couple of beers for a line
of speed.

The conference was told half of the one in 100 Australians with
schizophrenia, severe depression or bipolar disorder had a drug or
alcohol problem. Include tobacco and the number was about 98 per cent
of inpatients.

The director of health sciences at the University of Queensland, David
Kavanagh, said people with a psychotic illness usually took drugs for
the same reasons most people did but tended to have severe reactions.

While some people believed the focus should be to get them to quit all
drugs, he believed it was important to help them not make as many
mistakes with drugs.