August 23, 2000

Stoners are better drivers

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In an attempt to show the dangers of using drugs while driving, the British government ended up proving what every pothead already knew, the LONDON TIMES reports: Stoners are better drivers.

Facing pressure from motorist organizations and anti-drug campaigners, the government commissioned a four-week study of doped-up drivers to gauge their reaction times and awareness. Instead of concluding — as the government clearly hoped they would — that drug use increased the risk of accidents, researchers instead found the mellowing effects of cannabis made drivers more cautious, and hence, safer.

The study is, to say the least, a setback for the government’s “don’t drive on drugs” campaign, which already includes several TV and radio spots.

“If you were to ask me to rank them in order of priority, fatigue is the worst killer, followed by alcohol, and drugs follow way behind in third,” said the author of the report.

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THE BIG PICTURE

You expect the big picture, and it's our job at Mother Jones to give it to you. And right now, so many of the troubles we face are the making not of a virus, but of the quest for profit, political or economic (and not just from the man in the White House who could have offered leadership and comfort but instead gave us bleach).

In "News Is Just Like Waste Management," we unpack what the coronavirus crisis has meant for journalism, including Mother Jones’, and how we can rise to the challenge. If you're able to, this is a critical moment to support our nonprofit journalism with a donation: We've scoured our budget and made the cuts we can without impairing our mission, and we hope to raise $400,000 from our community of online readers to help keep our big reporting projects going because this extraordinary pandemic-plus-election year is no time to pull back.

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