Where there is smoke, there is a burning issue

Last week’s legalisation of private cannabis use in South Africa has opened up quite a few hornets’ nests, of which one is the implications it might have for road users.

Just because it’s legal to use it in your home doesn’t make it legal to drive under the influence of it. It’s the same with alcohol and prescription medicine. If you are older than 18 it’s legal for you to consume alcohol and it is also okay to take the strong muti your doctor prescribed, but getting behind the wheel in both instances are a serious offence. One that doesn’t only put your own life at risk, but also many others.

South Africa’s roads are dangerous enough already with the amount of alcohol-related deaths every year, now traffic police face the prospect of being burdened further in drivers under the influence of cannabis.

Although recent studies in the United States can’t clearly determine whether drivers who’ve used cannabis and accidents are directly related, it’s still a fact that dagga use can lead to impaired reactions, which is definitely not a good thing.

The difference between detecting whether someone has consumed alcohol or dagga is that cannabis can’t be detected with a breathaliser test. There is talk of using a saliva sample taken from the mouth with a cotton swab which can detect the use of dagga, but this test takes in the region of seven minutes, which isn’t really a luxury the cops have during a road block. And when it comes to a blood test, traces of dagga will stay in the system a lot longer than alcohol, also making it difficult to determine what the driver’s exact mental state was behind the wheel.

The other problem is, quite ironically, that drivers who take to the road after consuming dagga tend to overestimate their condition and then end up driving slower and taking fewer risks – completely the opposite of what drunken drivers do.

But that still doesn’t make it right and I hope traffic cops get the proper training in dealing with the matter and the state prioritises awareness campaigns in order to send out a clear message right from the start.

In this week’s edition Mark Jones takes a look at the all-new Audi Q3 which launched in Italy, we bring you up to speed with BMW’s brand-new X4 which was unveiled to the media in Durban this month and Ntsako Mthethwa drove Toyota’s little Aygo.

Andre de Kock brings us all the latest news from the local racing circuit as well as Brad Binder’s awesome Moto2 win at the weekend.