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Pot threatens road safety: Your Say


Letter to the editor:

As the former chief of the Colorado State Patrol, I share the grave concerns of highway safety advocates regarding the impact of marijuana use on impaired driving ("Easing of marijuana laws worries road safety advocates").

Whether marijuana use is legal does not address the issue of drivers whose ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is impaired by the presence of THC in their system.

Standardized roadside tests to determine if someone is driving under the influence of marijuana are not reliable. Coupled with the fact that marijuana today is stronger compared with a decade ago, we have a recipe for extremely negative impacts on highway safety.

Through the years, great progress has been made in reducing drunken driving injuries and fatalities through education, strict national standards and strong enforcement. But as more states consider the legalization of marijuana, it is critical that the impact of impaired driving be a key element of this debate.

Lonnie J. Westphal; Larkspur, Colo.

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Legal cannabis use already exists. Driver education is the key to preventing an escalation of problem behaviors, not continued prohibition.

— Ted Wright

Testing positive for marijuana use does not mean you're actively high or would be impaired when driving. A positive test means that you have marijuana detected in your blood. Traces of pot can be found a week after use.

Stop the scare tactics and reefer madness.

Charlie Humes