MADD Naive over Drug Cocktails
Candor Trust
The Candor Trust is pleased the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse has funded studies about the serious drug driving
issue, but is appalled at the hostile "turf guarding" attitude of MADD Canada. A batten the hatches attitude that anyone
can see is destructive to that organisations supposed road safety objectives.
Responding to two studies finding that (similar to New Zealand per Candors' roadside survey) 7.2% of live drivers tested
positive for risk drugs, and 33% of deceased drivers tested positive for drugs while 37% had alcohol in their systems,
Andrew Murie, CEO of MADD Canada, argued in the media today that the presence of a drug did not equate to impairment -
despite that the study dealt with typically impairing drugs.
He further stated that while drugs driving is a major issue, drinking alcohol and driving is still the Number 1 problem,
which is wrong framing. He is part of the problem described by CCSA's senior research analyst Doug Beirness; "there
seems to be a public perception that drug use doesn't affect drivers to the same extent as drinking,(when) many drugs
affect the physical and cognitive processes necessary to operate a vehicle safely, posing a serious risk."
It seems grotesque for a supposed road safety organisation like MADD to treat the drug driving issue as competition,
when the reality is it is one of the major drivers of drink driving fatalities. Because frequent combining of drugs and
alcohol in this millenium massively raises the probability of an "alcohol related" crash. Pot/Plonk mixing has largely
supplanted sole use.
Research in the state of Victoria by Drummer et al demonstrated as far back as 2004 that the all time favorite cocktail
of cannabis and alcohol doubles the expected blood alcohol related risk. Diminishing the frequency of cannabis use by
use of random roadside saliva tests in Australia has been the single most powerful new initiative rolled out in the last
decade to reduce the drink driving toll.
The road toll immediately dropped 10%, and Victoria has sustained one of the lowest drink driving tolls per capita, ever
since rolling out random saliva drug testing. Until MADD wakes up and recognises that the drink driving and drug driving
issues are inseparable, each issue feeding and fuelling the risk and harm of the other, it cannot maximise its harm
reduction goals.
Either MADD wants sober and clean drivers or it doesn't. Half measures as regards impaired driving are the road safety
version of Weight Watchers telling those at cardiac risk to cut down or quit pastry but icecream is not so bad...
because well pastry is the big issue. For us.
MADD must learn to grapple with the alcohol and other drug driving issue and fast. That may mean some meditation on its
core objectives, and how best to meet then in light of current research, because scaring people off alcohol (or using
over limit amounts) onto less detectable drugs isn't laudable. It's a big boo boo to silo alcohol from other drugs in
drivers.
ENDS