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UK: Drug-drive research report sparks row
Ananova
Wednesday 20 Mar 2002 A row has broken out over government-backed research which compared driving performance under the influence of alcohol and cannabis. New Scientist magazine says a leaked report from the Transport Research Laboratory had found a single glass of wine impairs driving more than a whole cannabis cigarette. However, the laboratory in Crowthorne, Berkshire, says the magazine article, published in its latest edition, is "full of inaccuracies" - but would not say what these are. A TRL spokeswoman said: "Although the testing is finished, the report the author saw was in draft form and was not yet completed. The article contained several inaccuracies and we are actively considering making a complaint." The author of the New Scientist article, Arran Frood, said: "The article was thoroughly checked and the results of the tests corroborate with previous research on the subject. I have not been made aware of any complaint that TRL have about it." According to the article, researchers at TRL had found volunteers who drank 60% of the legal drink-drive limit were less able to drive in a straight line or at a constant speed than those who had smoked a specially prepared marijuana joint. Unlike the tipsy drivers, the doped-up drivers tended to be aware of their state and drove cautiously to compensate, it added. The results suggest that automatically penalising drivers with any amount of recently-smoked cannabis in their bodies would only be credible if a zero-tolerance policy were adopted for drink-driving as well, New Scientist said. Last week the Government suggested that police could be given greater powers to arrest drug-taking drivers as figures show the spiralling influence of illegal substances in fatal smashes. The Department of Transport says ministers want to toughen the law and to educate officers in drug recognition techniques which will give them greater confidence to arrest a suspect. The move came as doctors' leaders called for drug-driving tests and warns that both legal and illegal substances impair the ability to drive safely in the same lethal way as alcohol.
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