DUID Victim Voices

DUID Victim Network

Education and promoting effectiv

Education and promoting effective laws to reduce Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID)

About DUID Victim Voices:

Many voices are heard when a state considers stronger DUID laws. The voices of the marijuana lobby, law enforcement professionals, forensic toxicologists, and drug users typically dominate. DUID Victim Voices represents the interests of the victims of drugged driving, providing fact-based education and a victim perspective to decision makers and to the general public.

Background

All states define alcohol DUI per se with laboratory tests that prove impairment by a blood alcohol level greater than .08 gm/dl for adults and greater than zero (or .02 gm/dl) for minors. Laboratory tests are routinely performed for all suspected alcohol DUI cases. Only 19 states define drug DUI (DUID) per se by objective laboratory tests.

Three additional states have established permissible limits for marijuana’s active THC in drivers, but these limits are a poor substitute for comprehensive drug per se laws. All other states use more difficult, costly, and subjective means to prove DUID on a case-by-case basis, with highly variable results.

Not finding something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist

A favorite citation used by the marijuana lobby to promote the idea that marijuana doesn’t impair driving is one published in 2015 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.gov/behavioral-research/drug-and-alcohol-crash-risk-study).  And when the study is cited, the results are usually badly misquoted. 

 

Los Angeles Times: “Good news (?): marijuana doesn’t increase the likelihood of car crashes.”

USA Today: “New study shows no link between marijuana use and car accidents.”

Reason: “Landmark study finds marijuana … READ MORE

Deceptive statistical analysis

Two articles on the effect of recreational marijuana commercialization on traffic fatalities reached opposite conclusions in the June 22nd 2020 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.  Readers should understand the effect of study design differences Read More

Another badly flawed study

Jeff Brubacher from Vancouver General Hospital published "Cannabis use as a risk factor for causing motor vehicle crashes: a prospective study."  The study has earned a great deal of press due to his finding that there was no increased risk of Read More