CANNABIS, CARS A FATAL MIX

DRIVERS who smoked cannabis before getting behind the wheel were six times
more likely to die in a crash than other road users, a parliamentary
committee has been told.

Monash University forensic medicine expert Olaf Drummer said yesterday it
was myth that stoned motorists were relatively safe because they drove
slowly. Fatal smashes among this group caused by excessive speed were not
uncommon.

"It is certainly not a safe drug in relation to road trauma," Professor
Drummer told the House of Representatives standing committee on family and
community affairs.

He unveiled an analysis which showed that drivers with relatively high
levels of cannabis in their bloodstream (more than 5ng/mL of
tetrahydrocannabinol) were 6.6 times more likely than others to die on the
roads.

Only very drunk drivers were more vulnerable. Those with a blood-alcohol
content higher than 0.20 were 20 times more likely to die.

In a coronial study of almost 3400 driver deaths during 1990-99, including
757 in WA, Professor Drummer found almost 30 per cent of victims recorded a
blood-alcohol content above the legal limit.

A further 26 per cent tested positive for mind-altering (psychotropic)
drugs, including 14 per cent who had recently used cannabis.

Other commonly detected drugs were opiates (4.4 per cent), stimulants (3.8
per cent) and benzodiazepines (3.6 per cent).

Professor Drummer told the committee that drivers who used stimulants such
as amphetamines were 2.3 times more likely than others to die.

the death rate was much higher (8.8 times) among stimulant-using truck drivers.

interestingly, heroin use did not appear to be strongly linked to unsafe
driving. Heroin users were 1.4 times more likely to die but those who had
taken multiple mood-altering drugs were 5.4 times more likely to die.

The combination of alcohol and mood-altering drugs was particularly dangerous.

Professor Drummer's research appears to support moves by WA authorities,
revealed last week, to investigate the possibility of testing drivers for
drugs other than alcohol.

The WA Police Service has made preliminary inquiries about getting portable
roadside saliva testing kits.

Victorian police are preparing to start a similar program.

And The West Australian understands that the Government's drink and drug
driving task force has made a submission that legislation be drafted to
help catch the rising number of people driving while affected by drugs.