Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Topics Distortion 1: Drug Use After Prohibition Ends Distortion 2: Drug Use Estimates Distortion 3: Needle Exchange Distortion 4: Harm Reduction Distortion 5: Methadone Treatment Distortion 6: Emergency Room Visits Distortion 7: Gateway Distortion 8: Ecstasy Distortion 9: Cannabis As Medicine Distortion10: Young People and Drugs Distortion 11: Marijuana Potency Distortion 12: Cannabis and Driving Distortion 13: US Crime Rates Distortion 14: Cannabis and Drug Treatment Distortion 15: People Only Smoke Pot To Get High, Whereas They Drink Alcohol To Be Sociable Distortion 16: ONDCP's 'Open Letter on Marijuana' & the AntiDrug Media Campaign Distortion 17: Cannabis and Drug Treatment Part II Distortion 18: Cannabis and Mental Illness Special: NORML's Truth Report 2005, An Analysis & Response To The Drug Czar's Open Letter About Marijuana Special: Debunking The Myths Chronic Pain & Opiods, by Frank Fisher, MD Distortion 19: Estimating the Size of the Illicit Drug Market Distortion 20: Methamphetamines Distortion 21: US Crime Rates & Arrest Rates Distortion 22: Marijuana & Violence Search using CSDP's own search tool or use |
This argument gets cast in a number of ways. It was expressed rather well in this conversation between the late President Richard Nixon and entertainer Art Linkletter. A tape of the conversation is available at the National Archives and Records Administration in Greenbelt, MD. The transcription below was done by CSDP Research Director Doug McVay in 2002. A fuller transcript from this and other Nixon-era conversations regarding marijuana and drug policy is available by clicking here.
AL: "Yes. [unintelligible] Really. But, but another big
difference between marijuana and alcohol is that when people s-
smoke marijuana, they smoke it to get high. In every case, when
most people drink, they drink to be sociable. You don't see
people --"
Source: Oval Office Conversation No. 500-17 -- May 18, 1971, 12:16 pm - 12:35 pm -- President Richard Nixon met with Arthur G. (Art) Linkletter and DeVan L. Shumway; Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins was present at the beginning of the meeting.
The distortion here is the notion that people aren't impaired
by alcohol unless they feel drunk. The reality is much
different. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
of the US Department of Transportation notes that
"Burns and Fiorentino (2000) examined the relationships
of drinkers' ratings of their own intoxication and driving
impairment in an alcohol experiment with 48 men and women, ages
21-54 years, who were light, moderate and heavy drinkers. The
subjects rated their degree of intoxication at BACs of .000 to
.125. The authors found that heavy drinkers rated their
intoxication levels lower than either moderate or light drinkers,
a finding that was said to reflect their acquired tolerance to
alcohol effects. Heavy-drinking men generally had lower
intoxication ratings than women, but driving ratings between
heavy-drinking men and women did not differ.
Indeed, alcohol users are frequently cautioned that they can be impaired without being aware of it, for example in this US military presentation on "Irresponsible vs. Responsible Use of Alcohol" at http://www.csdp.org/research/responsible.ppt, as accessed March 9, 2005, from http://www.22asg.vicenza.army.mil/sites/directorates/img/responsible.ppt, and this Los Angeles Police Department standards document at http://www.ci.la.ca.us/LAPD/traffic/dre/certgls.htm, last accessed Jan. 1, 2003.
In terms of cannabis and a user's perception of impairment,
it has been noted in driving studies that
"Drivers under the influence of cannabis
seem aware that they are impaired, and attempt to compensate for this
impairment by reducing the difficulty of the driving task,
for example by driving more slowly."
In other words, people who use cannabis may be more aware of the fact that they're impaired after they have used, compared with people who drink alcohol and who do not feel impaired after just a drink or two, even though their driving ability has been lessened. Any use of a controlled substance, even just one beer or other social drinking, can impair driving ability for a short time afterward even though an individual may not perceive themselves as impaired. Back to top
|