Current findings by the Colorado State Patrol point out a big enhance of impaired drivers have a mix of alcohol and marijuana throughout arrests.
On the eve of April 20, also called 420, the unofficial hashish vacation, the Colorado Division of Transportation and Moms In opposition to Drunk Driving Colorado launched a information launch addressing driving beneath the affect statistics.
“We’ve surveyed shut to twenty,000 hashish customers on the difficulty,” stated Sam Cole, CDOT communications supervisor.
“And whereas many know that driving excessive is against the law, they nonetheless don’t perceive how harmful it may be to mix marijuana with alcohol. We hope these tales, advised by actual Coloradans, will change some minds and encourage individuals to seek out options to driving impaired.”
In keeping with Colorado State Patrol information, arrests elevated 90% for drivers impaired by hashish and alcohol, and 17% for drivers impaired by hashish and different substances between 2019 and 2020.
Whereas alcohol stays the commonest substance present in deadly crashes involving an impaired driver, State Patrol reported an uptick in deadly crashes that contain hashish. The num-
ber of drivers concerned in deadly
crashes with energetic THC above the authorized restrict of 5 nanograms elevated from 33 in 2017 to 49 in 2019.
Throughout those self same years, fatalities that concerned alcohol fell from 192 to 164.
“We work with individuals every single day who’re affected by impaired driving,” stated Fran Lanzer, government director of MADD Colorado, “and these tales present a number of the tragic outcomes of drug- and alcohol-impaired driving — we hope that individuals understand that their selections can have very critical penalties and select to make a plan for a protected experience dwelling.”
Different statistics that have been included:
n State Patrol cited 4,805 drivers for DUI in 2020. Of these, 865 concerned alcohol mixed with marijuana, up from 455 in 2019.
n Whereas hint quantities of energetic Delta-9 THC don’t essentially equate to impairment, the substance is showing extra typically in driver toxicology checks. In 2019, of the 416 fatalities through which a driver was examined for Delta-9 THC, 25% have been optimistic — up from 20% in 2016.
n In 2020, 208 individuals have been killed by a suspected impaired driver in Colorado, which is 33% of all individuals killed in site visitors crashes that 12 months — and an 18% enhance over 2019.
