I do not hold myself up as a clinical expert on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Rather, I speak as an experienced law enforcement officer with over 30 years enforcing laws related to impaired driving. My community has experienced its share of horrific crashes, traffic congestion, snarl-ups, delays, as well as, pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. So I feel appropriately qualified to discuss the issues and concerns related to impaired driving, and in this case “drugged driving,” and its effect upon the motoring and non-motoring public.
I am not alone in this experience. New Jersey has some of the most heavily traveled and congested roadways in the United States. The collective efforts of the law enforcement community to thwart drunk driving have met with a great deal of success, as the incidents of drunk driving and related crashes have been relatively low and stable over the last decade or so. But, drugged driving is not the same as drunk driving. Further, our collective understanding of the impairments due to drugged driving is limited.
Marijuana is not a benign drug. Impairment due to drugged driving has certain comparable similarities to impairment due to drunk driving, but it’s the differences that will make the roadways less safe and the ability to enforce drugged driving laws much more difficult.