The subject of driving under the influence of marijuana has been much debated in these parts. A bill to set a THC driving limit was shelved in May, shortly before an HDNet report demonstrated pot-related driving impairment -- and in August, the Colorado Department of Transportation launched a drugged-driving campaign. Now, however, a new study suggests that traffic fatalities go down in states where medical marijuana is legal.

The paper, co-authored by University of Colorado Denver Professor Daniel Rees and Montana State University Assistant Professor D. Mark Anderson, looked at traffic fatalities nationwide between 1990 and 2009 -- and in the thirteen states that had legalized medical marijuana during that period, alcohol consumption for those between the ages of twenty and 29 declined, as did the number of highway deaths...

No surprise that this info has been embraced by Mason Tvert, whose organization, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Entertainment (SAFER), has long held that alcohol is riskier than marijuana.

"We've been making the argument for years here in Colorado that allowing people to use marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol, and that it would reduce alcohol-related problems," Tvert says. "This study is simply more evidence of that."

Tvert adds that the study's conclusion will likely arise during the campaign for the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012, for which he's a high-profile proponent. In his words, "The subject of DUID" -- driving under the influence of drugs -- "will be brought up, in all likelihood, and we expect this information to be part of that debate, part of the discussion..."

Read the entire story at: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/11/medical_marijuana_laws_fewer_traffic_deaths.php