According to the head of U.S. Department of Transportation, if Donald Trump reschedules or legalizes marijuana as he “gets pressured” to, this could lead traffic safety issues, especially for young drivers.
In an interview with Fox & Friends on Tuesday, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy was asked about the proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) that Trump is actively considering, as well as the relationship between cannabis laws and roadway safety.
He said that with alcohol there are “telltale” signs that someone is drunk behind the wheel, and that technology can detect impaired driving, but not with marijuana.
“It is hard to do with marijuana.” “We don’t know if the person smoked pot before they bought the car,” said he. So the systems aren’t in place. “At a moment when the culture celebrates marijuana use, we don’t talk about its risks.”
Duffy said that he also agrees with the “pressure” being put on President Obama to legalize or reschedule cannabis. He said as a former prosecutor and father to nine children that he was “not an advocate of legalizing marijuana.”
Duffy stated that as a former prosecutor he had “never sent people to jail for a bag of quarter ounces.” [or] Eight ounces of marijuana. The city issued a citation.”
“But to legalize it and to say it’s okay for our kids and our young people to smoke it—and it’s good for them when they get behind cars—it’s dangerous,” he said. “And listen, it’s taken lives.”
Cannabis is “really addictive,” he said.
The secretary said, “Don’t you think it isn’t the marijuana of the 1960s?” “This is way more dangerous stuff,” said the secretary. The secretary said: “This stuff is much more dangerous, plus the laced with other materials are also extremely dangerous.”
In spite of the growing and bipartisan support, those who are in favor have called on everyone to be educated about impaired driving.
Fox News’ host framed his question about the secretary in a way that rescheduling would also not legalize cannabis federally. The primary effect of the bill would be that it recognizes cannabis’ medical benefits, removes certain barriers to research and allows marijuana companies to claim federal tax deductions.
Duffy’s assertion that legalizing alcohol could increase impaired driving risk has been refuted. In fact, research shows that the legalization reform has had mixed results in states and countries.
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The head of the top federal agency in charge of traffic safety said, during the Senate confirmation hearings that he would “double-down” to increase awareness of the dangers of driving while impaired by marijuana.
In a similar vein, prohibitionists have celebrated the inclusion in a large spending bill of language that will prevent the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from supporting advertisements that “encourage illicit drug or alcohol consumption.” This is in apparent response to marketing materials in the past that used cannabis culture as if it were promoting impaired driving.
DOT has recently updated its guidelines for drug testing by revising the terminology used to describe cannabis to be more precise in relation to THC.
Brian Shamblen provided the photo.
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