Is it reasonable to punish the "marijuana use" operation like drunk driving?

Some states in the US can use marijuana legally, and more people are using marijuana, mainly young people. While there is a danger of driving reckless driving while using marijuana is pointed out and there is a movement to strengthen penalties as well as drunk driving,The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA)According to the results of the research presented by the company, data showing that "marijuana use state is far more safe in driving than drinking state" is shown.

Stoned drivers are a lot safer than drunk ones, new federal data show show - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/09/stoned-drivers-are-a-lot-safer-than-drunk-ones-new-federal-data-show/

This investigated how high the driver's accident disengagement rate in the state where marijuana, marijuana, illegal drugs, analgesic, antidepressants, etc. were taken and driver's drinking condition is higher than the normal driver of "squirrel" . The "drinking condition" is limited only when the blood alcohol concentration is 0.05% or more. Graphing the accident rate in various symptoms, it is surprising that marijuana has almost no difference from a normal driver, and the accident rate is about seven times higher than when marijuana is taken, which is about 600% higher in drinking condition It is obvious.


From this survey, it became clear that the concentration of THC, the main component of marijuana contained in the blood, has no effect of remarkably decreasing driver's driving ability like blood alcohol concentration. NHTSA concludes that "At this time, certain drug concentration levels are definitely not identifiable as other possible obstacles to the driver."

Although the result of surprise that "There is almost no decline in driving function when taking marijuana" comes out, state laws trying to regulate driving at the time of taking marijuana are discussed in each state. For example, the state of Colorado has passed a state bill that regulates driving marijuana, with blood THC concentration set at 5 nanogram / milliliter. However, from the results of this survey, there seems to be room for discussion as to whether such regulation is appropriate.


There are also indications that marijuana administration state has a different characteristic from drinking state. Drinking condition is rapidly rising immediately after alcohol ingestion and it will dissolve with time, but it is known that it is difficult to predict when marijuana and psychotropic medicine are discharged from the body. As you can see from the fact that THC can be detected in the body for several days to several weeks from the last use of marijuana, it is said that it is a difficult question when to take marijuana at any time as a problem.