[kalimus]

Originally Posted by Hammer St. James

This link holds some surprising information about post-legalization traffic fatalities. http://www.alternet.org/drugs/153264...l_car_crashes/

Of course, you can't believe everything you read on the nets. It does give a starting point for possible cross reference.

I think that's pretty interesting. Although I'm not sure if I buy "legalizing pot led to less drinking which in turn led to less fatalities" as a direct relation. I would like to see more types of that study however. I mean, if it can be proven that's REALLY what happens... well I might shift my view a little more.

The thing that sucks about studies like that, is they don't take into account other factors either. How much safer cars are now compared to 1990 (which I assure you contributes to reduced fatalities). I would have preferred them to make that connection to "accidents" to be honest. Drinking/driving is taken much more seriously now also. More DUI checkpoints, more education etc.

The other thing I don't like about studies, is that you can never tell what the opinion is of the people conducting the study, or the people wanting to participate. And this works on both sides, which is why I also don't believe weed is a "gateway drug" either, regardless of studies that have suggested it is, nor do I believe the "madness" stories that were talked about earlier. But those allegedly had "studies" to support them. That's all I'm saying. You don't have to lie on a study to get it to support your stance. You just have to choose which information you include, and be selective about the information you gather.

Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter

What the study doesn't say is who can get a medical marijuana prescription in that research. I would tend to believe that the majority of the people getting medical marijuana prescriptions are over the age of 30 (this is a random guess) and maybe even older than that. You know, people who are responsible enough to know when they're high versus when they're too drunk to drive.

I personally know some friends in college, that got medical marijuana prescriptions for "migraines" that they admit they don't actually have. They say they hear to do this from others who do the same thing, because those migraines are almost impossible to prove. You have to be having one at the time for the doctor to know. How many people do this? I'm not sure. Maybe it's very few. Maybe it's a lot. I don't know, but it does happen.