Driving While High – AAA Stats Suggest That’s A Problem

Usually, when we bring you information provided by the American Automobile Association it's concerning fuel prices or travel destinations. Today's AAA-related story has to do with an issue that is going to have to be addressed if the current trend of legalized marijuana for recreational use continues.

That trend is driving while high.

According to AAA, about 14.8 million people drove within one hour of using marijuana. For perspective that's roughly the equivalent of every citizen that lives in New York driving while stoned, oh and that figure is based on data gathered over the past 30 days.

Another frightening fact from a recent press release from Triple-A is this. 70% of pot smokers say they do not feel as if they will be "caught" driving high. Most of those surveyed for this study suggested that driving while high was not as dangerous as driving while drunk. 

Leading the way in this motorized slow-moving parade of buzzed drivers in the general direction of Taco Bell are the millennials. The study suggests that more individuals in that demographic group admit to driving while high than any other.

Many law enforcement agencies such as Louisiana State Police are offering officers more detailed training to spot drivers who are under the influence of pot. Triple-A says that more than 87,000 officers in the United States have already undergone extensive training on how to recognize drug-impaired driving. That number will likely increase as more and more states reconfigure their laws and statutes where marijuana is concerned.