Beware Marijuana Holiday: Stoned Drivers Pose Same Dangers As Drunken Super Bowl Revelers
Two doctors examined 25 years of data and determined the risk of a fatal crash on American roads is 12 percent higher after 4:20 p.m. on April 20, the day set aside to celebrate marijuana. The numbers are comparable to the increased risk seen on Super Bowl Sunday, and the younger the driver, the greater the risk.
Los Angeles Times:
Drivers Who Get Stoned On 4/20 Are Just As Dangerous As Drivers Who Get Drunk On Super Bowl Sunday
Here's a pro tip from a couple of doctors: Be sure to make special plans on April 20. That date, of course, is the unofficial holiday devoted to celebrating all things marijuana. (You might know it better as "4/20.") The two physicians — John Staples of the University of British Columbia and Donald Redelmeier of the University of Toronto — aren't asking that you honor marijuana's medicinal properties by experiencing them directly. Rather, they're warning you to be on alert for others who do — and then get behind the wheel while they're still under the influence. (Kaplan, 2/12)
In other news —
KQED News:
Can Cannabis Save Us From The Opioid Crisis?
Have California’s medical marijuana dispensaries helped ease the state’s opioid crisis? Several studies have found lower rates of opioid-related overdoses in states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. (Replogle, 2/12)
Sacramento Bee:
California Has Legal Marijuana - Just Not Many Places To Legally Smoke It
When California voters 15 months ago passed Proposition 64 – formally known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act – it didn’t create a lot of options for where people 21 and over can legally consume pot. ...While there is no statewide registry of lounges, people in the cannabis industry say they know only of a cluster in the Bay Area – eight in San Francisco and one in Oakland. (Branan, 2/12)
San Jose Mercury News:
Why California's Cannabis Taxes Are Much More Than Wine And Beer, But Less Than Cigarettes
While marijuana taxes stand alone in the world of so-called “sin taxes” because they vary among cities and counties, an analysis by this news organization found the cumulative tax on legal weed is more than triple the tax on wine and beer, which is typically about a dime on the dollar. For cigarettes, on the other hand, the total tax rate is more than 80 percent. (Krieger, 2/12)