A new Canadian study suggesting a link between the legalization of recreational marijuana and a spike in severe traffic injuries does not surprise Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield.

"I have not had an opportunity to read the entire study, but the Indiana State Police has always maintained the importance of sober driving," Fifeld said.

"A study that shows that driving after consuming any type of marijuana, THC product, alcohol, prescription drugs, or any illegal substance, to be highly dangerous would not be surprising to our agency," he said. "We witness the effects of impaired driving on a daily basis throughout our state."

The Ottawa-based study looking at 426 cannabis-involved traffic injury emergency department visits found annual rates increased by 475.3% over 13 years.

"These findings suggest that cannabis-involved traffic injuries have increased over time and that the commercialization of cannabis markets may result in further increases," according to the study.

"Legalization of nonmedical cannabis with widespread retail access and increased cannabis product variety may have further increased these visits despite laws specifically aimed at deterring cannabis-impaired driving."

"Younger adults and males appear to be at particularly increased risk of cannabis-involved traffic injuries," researchers found. "There is a potential need for greater interventions, including education on cannabis-impaired driving, enforcement activities, and policies to regulate access to commercial retail markets."

Region facing influx of pot legal in neighboring states

While all marijuana use remains illegal in Indiana, police across the northwest section of the state have been left to grapple with an influx of commercial and particularly potent pot products pouring in from neighboring Michigan and Illinois, where recreational sale and use of the drug are legal.

The recent Canadian study echoes past findings by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which reported that in the 10 years between 2009 and 2018, the presence of marijuana had nearly doubled among drivers killed in crashes who were tested for the substance.

"More recently, data from a 2021 NHTSA study shows that 56% of drivers involved in serious injury and fatal crashes tested positive for at least one drug, based on trauma centers studied last year."

Drug-impaired driving is increasing enough across Indiana and the nation that it is beginning to outpace drunken driving, Devon McDonald, executive director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute told The Times in April.

This includes drivers impaired on a single drug, multiple drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol, he said, which could be a contributing factor in what appears to be a growing frequency of motorists found passed out behind the wheel of running vehicles dangerously positioned on Region roads.

Just more than a week ago, Portage police reported that a driver seen swerving into the oncoming lanes of U.S. 20 before passing out at the intersection of Willowcreek Road was nearly four times the legal limit for drinking alcohol and was believed to have been overdosing on drugs.

Driver Darian Gibbons, 42, of Michigan City had to be revived using a dose of the opiate-neutralizing drug Narcan before being hauled off to jail on various charges of driving while intoxicated, police said.

Debate over legalizing pot in Indiana

"Operating a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, whether legal or illegal, is against the law," said LaPorte County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Derek Allen.

"As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs can impair the ability to drive because they slow coordination, judgement and reaction times," he said. "Irresponsible motorists who operate while impaired create a danger to themselves, their passengers and the motoring public."

State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, has voiced his commitment to seek the legalization of marijuana for adult use in Indiana, perhaps with fewer barriers and taxes than those imposed by Illinois and Michigan to spur a more robust marketplace with lower prices.

"It’s one of those things in looking at some of these other states we see that there’s still an illegal market, or an underground market, for cannabis, and most folks will tell you it’s likely due to the fact that it costs more at these dispensaries," Pol has said.

Porter County Sheriff Jeff Balon is among those who remain opposed to the outright legalization of marijuana in Indiana, but is open to the potential of allowing limited use for medical reasons.

"We do believe the amount of operating while intoxicated arrests will increase if marijuana is legalized and commercialized in our state," he said.

He referred anyone considering the issue to take a look at the negative impacts of marijuana spelled out by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which describes itself as the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation.
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