Pot use leading to more accidents

ON SUNDAY, Aug. 27, the Denver Post published the first of three investigative articles titled “Exclusive: Traffic fatalities linked to marijuana are up sharply in Colorado. Is legalization to blame?” The article begins: “The number of drivers involved in fatal crashes in Colorado who tested positive for marijuana has risen sharply each year since 2013, more than doubling in that time, federal and state data show. A Denver Post analysis of the data and coroner reports provides the most comprehensive look yet into whether roads in the state have become more dangerous since the drug’s legalization.”

The article can be found on the Post’s website, denverpost. com. According to the article, Washington, another state eager to legalize recreational use of marijuana, has also seen increases in fatalities.

For over 20 years the following information has been available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Drugs and Human Performance Fact Sheets: “Marijuana has been shown to impair performance on driving simulator tasks and on open and closed driving courses for up to approximately three hours. Decreased car handling performance, increased reaction times, impaired time and distance estimation, inability to maintain headway, lateral travel, subjective sleepiness, motor incoordination, and impaired sustained vigilance have all been reported.” This report can be found at nhtsa. gov.

Let’s not get New Mexico on another “bad list”. Keep recreational marijuana illegal. DOUG PRICE Albuquerque