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Seventeen states — including New Mexico — and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana.
Meanwhile: ♦ The percentage of drivers killed in traffic crashes who later tested positive for drugs rose 18 percent between 2005 and 2011. ♦ Several studies suggest driving after smoking marijuana might almost double the risk of being in a serious or fatal crash. ♦ A new survey says 19 percent of teen drivers admit to driving under the influence of marijuana and fewer feel it is “very” or “extremely” distracting to their driving. So it is vital those 17 states and D.C. that have approved medical marijuana get it in gear and determine how stoned is enough to mitigate the crippling effects of disease but not too stoned to get behind the wheel. Or if users should even be allowed to drive. Those are tough questions to answer, because unlike alcohol there is no presumed level of intoxication, and unlike standard prescription medications there is no therapeutic level that can be used to determine marijuana treatment versus impairment. THC, the active ingredient in pot, stays in the blood long after the high — and its dizziness, slowed reaction time and tendency to drift and swerve — wears off. New Mexico lawmakers have considered passing a drugged driving law for years, with each failed proposal allowing therapeutic levels for standard prescription medications and disallowing driving with an illegal drug on board. In medical marijuana states (New Mexico legalized it in 2007) there’s the added wrinkle of trying to regulate safe driving levels of a drug that’s legal under state law but illegal under federal law. It’s clearly a difficult proposition, but a necessary one. Medical marijuana is, by design, purer and stronger than most street-grade pot, and the effects of smoking it follow suit. Someone hit and killed by a law-abiding driver impaired by medical marijuana is just as dead as someone hit and killed by a criminal driver wasted on street dope full of stems, seeds and oregano. Driving is a privilege reserved for those who have exhibited a level of responsibility; medical marijuana use is a privilege reserved for those whose physicians certify are suffering the effects of crippling illness. And states must finally determine how — and if — those two privileges can coexist. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
