Pubdate: Wed, 17 Sep 2003
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2003 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Associated Press

MILLIONS HAVE DRIVEN ON DRUGS, U.S. SAYS

WASHINGTON - An estimated 11 million Americans, including nearly one in 
five 21-year-olds, have driven while under the influence of illegal drugs, 
the government says. The numbers announced Tuesday were especially high for 
college students. Eighteen percent of students surveyed said they drove 
while on drugs last year, compared with 14 percent of their peers who 
weren't in college.

John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control 
Policy, said the statistics show a failure to convince drivers that drugs 
impair driving as much as alcohol does. His office is kicking off an ad 
campaign to warn teens about driving while smoking marijuana.

"Marijuana is not the soft drug. Marijuana is not the casual rite of 
passage," Walters said at a news conference. "We have been sending the 
wrong message."

Walters said marijuana can affect concentration, perception, coordination 
and reaction time for up to 24 hours after smoking it.

Officials also cited a recent study that said 15 percent of high school 
seniors have driven under the influence of marijuana. That study, published 
in May, analyzed 2001 data collected as part of the University of 
Michigan's annual "Monitoring the Future" study, which questioned 44,000 
students in 424 public and private schools in the country.

Nineteen-year-old Theodore Stevens of New Jersey told reporters that he 
believed smoking pot and driving wasn't dangerous despite getting into four 
accidents in three years. He says he's lucky none of those incidents caused 
serious injuries.

"Sometimes I believed it increased my driving performance," said Stevens, 
who has been in drug treatment for four months after being charged with 
possession of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Stevens began smoking pot when 
he was 14.

The report, compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 
used 2002 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The survey 
questioned 68,000 people. Researchers then extrapolated the percentages to 
the population as a whole. A federal statistician said the margin of error 
was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

For 21-year-olds, the rate of those who reported driving under the 
influence of drugs was 18 percent, the highest of any age group. That 
dropped off to 14.5 percent for 22-year-olds. Unemployed adults age 26 to 
49 also had a high frequency of driving while drugged - 9.3 percent, 
compared with 5.1 percent for drivers employed full time.

Among racial or ethnic groups, American Indians reported the highest rate 
of driving while drugged, at 6.3 percent compared with 5 percent of whites, 
4.5 percent of blacks, 3.7 percent of Hispanics, 3.1 percent of Pacific 
Islanders and 1.3 percent of Asians.

Dr. Jeffrey Runge, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, said there were approximately 38,000 crashes last year 
involving drivers impaired by marijuana. But Runge said he didn't know how 
many fatal accidents were caused by drugged drivers. State data collection 
is spotty, Runge said, and many drivers who are driving while drugged are 
also drinking.

"While we don't have fixed data, impairment is impairment," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens