Homeless in Arizona

It was written by Kyle Clark who seems to have a financial interest in the "War on Marijuana" as a project manager at the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DECP) at the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Sadly the police "war on DUI or DWI" is mostly about raising revenue for the government and has little to nothing to do with safety.

Here in Arizona a simple DUI ticket is a minimum fine of $2,000 and DUI fines can often be $10,000. Something the police and government love because of all the revenue it raises.

I suspect that the cops who are "only in it for the money" (sorry Frank Zappa for stealing the title from your song) and that Kyle Clark is one of those cops who would love to "war on marijuana" to continue to raise money for the government and tee police.

The main tactic of Kyle Clark who is with the International Association of Chiefs of Police seems to be to shovel meaningless statistics to scare people. I.e. lot's of people get killed.

Kyle Clark who is with the International Association of Chiefs of Police also seems to be to address the usual "save the children" propaganda line that is used constantly by the people who have a financial interest in continuing the "War on Drugs"

Kyle Clark doesn't address the issue that there are NO reliable tests to determine if a person is intoxicated under marijuana, like there is for alcohol.

Nor does Kyle Clark address the issue that marijuana is a vastly different drug than alcohol and doesn't effect driving in the same way that alcohol does. And that in general marijuana is much safer than alcohol.

Source

Drugged driving on marijuana is dangerous. Let's treat it that way.

Kyle Clark, Opinion contributor Published 5:45 a.m. MT Jan. 1, 2018

Americans are alarmingly ignorant about the risks of driving while high. [I suspect that Kyle Clark and his buddies at International Association of Chiefs of Police wants us to believe that only cops like him are smart enough to understand those $$$ risks $$$] As more states legalize pot, we need intensive public safety campaigns.

The only thing worse than telling a family member their loved one has been killed by an impaired driver is being the family member who receives that message. And as law enforcement, that is a message we deliver far too often, especially on nights like New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, during the holiday season we see an increase in lives devastated due to motor vehicle fatalities that involve not only drunk driving, but drugged driving as well.

That is why it is critical that greater attention be paid to the potentially deadly consequences stemming from the liberalization of marijuana laws in many states across the country, including California — where recreational pot is legal beginning Jan. 1, 2018.

While voters and state lawmakers are tasked with reforming marijuana policy at the ballot box and the state capitol, it is law enforcement’s job to ensure that those who use the drug do not pose a danger to the public. [Rubbish, that's the jobs of the VOTERS, not the cops who have a financial interest in making arrests]

To that end, our current focus must be on discouraging drivers from driving under the influence of pot. A variety of factors contribute to this increasingly dangerous issue. They include: the rise in overall usage, the lack of a chemical testing similar to an alcohol breathalyzer to see if someone is under the influence of marijuana, as well as alarming ignorance among Americans when it comes to the dangers of driving high.

There have been countless public safety campaigns regarding the dangers of driving after consuming alcohol. The same should now be done for driving high on marijuana, so that there is not a false sense that it is safe to use without limitation.

According to a new survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, just 40% of Americans believe driving under the influence of marijuana could be contributing to more motor vehicle crashes. That's even though the drug has been shown to slow reaction time, impair judgment of time and distance, and decrease coordination, which can most notably lead to problems keeping vehicles correctly positioned in their lane. And while it is true that the vast majority of Americans (91%) believe driving under the influence of marijuana is dangerous, there is an unsettling disconnect when most Americans cannot connect the dots between the dangers of driving high and an increase in crashes. That naïveté will undoubtedly lead to more deaths on the road.

Despite the technological advances in cars, we are already seeing more and more motor vehicle fatalities, as 2016 marked the most dramatic two-year escalation in motor vehicle deaths in 53 years, according to National Safety Council data. As many as 40,000 people died in car crashes in 2016, up 6% from 2015 and 14% from 2014. With numbers as disconcerting as those, it is important to consider the potential contributing factors.

In fact, a recent Highway Loss Data Institute study does show the connection between legalizing marijuana and an increase in crashes. In Colorado, Oregon and Washington, three states that allow recreational use of pot, collision claim frequencies are about 3% higher than would have been expected without legalization — a small but very significant number when you also consider the rise in traffic deaths. After alcohol, marijuana is the drug most often found in the blood of drivers involved in crashes, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

So why don’t Americans treat marijuana as seriously as they treat alcohol or even distracted driving like talking on a cellphone? Many parents are not educating their children about the dangers. Like many things, it all starts at home, where just 31% of parents say they’ve spoken to their children about driving under the influence of marijuana, according to PCI’s survey. Compare that to the parents who say they’ve had conversations with their children about wearing a seatbelt all/most of the time (67%), texting while driving (60%) or talking on a cell phone while driving (50%).

Since marijuana usage remains an issue among teens, and to a larger degree young adults, parents should be playing a greater role in educating their children about the risks. If parents aren’t making it a topic of discussion before handing their kids the car keys, they are setting a dangerous example.

Here’s a good place for parents to start: About 90 people die each day in this country due to traffic crashes. Driving while high is illegal, dangerous and life threatening.

Just recently, we learned that a man accused of causing a car crash that killed five teenagers in Vermont last year had elevated levels of THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high, in his system. Five families lost loved ones that day.

Until this country better understands that and acts more responsibly, we risk seeing these fatality numbers continue to rise. Help your children understand the danger of driving while high — it will help limit the numbers of families who far too often receive that tragic message.

Kyle Clark is a project manager of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DECP) at the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

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