Study Measures Effect Of Marijuana Use On Drivers’ Performance

USA Today (6/24, Hughes) reports in continuing coverage on a study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence on June 23 where researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse measured how “combined alcohol and marijuana use impairs drivers more than consuming just one or the other.” The study “examined drivers’ ability to stay within their lane after smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol and smoking and drinking in combination.”

The study “found that people with of 13.1 nanograms per liter of THC” had “similar driving impairment to someone with a .08 blood-alcohol level.” The article adds, “this study for the first time measures precisely how impaired users become when they smoke marijuana and drink alcohol, said co-author Marilyn Huestis, chief of chemistry and drug metabolism at the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.”

Related Links:

— “Study analyzes how much pot impairs drivers,” Trevor Hughes, USA Today, June 23, 2015.

Posted in In The News.