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Washington Drivers are Testing Positive for Cannabis

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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]ccording to a new study, almost one in seven adults driving children in Washington have recently consumed cannabis.

Data was collected from 2,056 drivers who were participants in the Washington State Roadside Survey from June 2014 to June 2015. Participants provided oral fluid, blood and breath samples to measure consumption of cannabis and alcohol. Researchers also noted that self-reported data were used to assess risk. Results showed 14 percent of Washington drivers with children in the car had recently consumed cannabis, while less than one percent of drivers tested positive for alcohol, with none being over the legal limit.

Researchers stressed that testing positive for cannabis doesn’t necessarily mean the person is driving while high, but a positive test does show that the driver had consumed cannabis. The researchers admit that they could not definitively give the number of impaired drivers in the group. University of California, San Diego partnered with the California Highway Patrol to study the effects of cannabis on drivers and the best way to test for sobriety in cannabis consumers.

“Cannabis is unique among all drugs as it is detectable for weeks after exposure, so a positive test might only indicate that a person was exposed weeks prior to the test and so it is unlikely that the presence of THC in their system has any influence on their current ability to drive a car,” said Ian Hamilton of the Department of Health Services at the University of York.

Overall, drivers were more likely to test positive for cannabis than alcohol. Of those tested without children in the car, 18 percent of drivers tested positive for cannabis while 4.5 percent tested positive for alcohol. Nearly 41 percent of those who tested positive for THC while transporting children believed cannabis did not impair their driving. A new study found almost half of cannabis consumers across the U.S. believe they are able to drive while high.

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