AAA Drugged Driving Summit│ January 26, 2015 │ Tampa, FL National Perspective on Drugs & Traffic Safety Jake Nelson MPH, MPP AAA Drugged Driving Summit│ January 26, 2015 │ Tampa, FL

Road Map… Drugs & Driving by the Numbers Drugs/Marijuana & Driving: Challenges Prescription/OTC Drugs & Driving

How big of a problem is it? Surveys: 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health  10.3 million people aged 12 or older Men > Women Drivers ages 18-25 NHTSA’s 2007 National Roadside Survey Day – 11% 5% illegal, 4.8% Rx/OTC, 0.5% combo Night – 14.4% 10.5% illegal, 3% Rx/OTC, 0.9% combo Among drug (+) drivers, 28% also (+) for alcohol

How big of a problem is it? Crash Data: 1 in 3 fatally injured drivers tested positive for drugs other than alcohol THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana – 2nd most common drug THC ~ greater likelihood of fault in crashes Neg Effect on a driver’s attentiveness, judgment and perception of time/speed Hard to measure the exact contribution of drug intoxication to traffic crashes

Marijuana & Driving

Road Map… Drugs & Driving by the Numbers Drugs/Marijuana & Driving: Challenges Prescription/OTC Drugs & Driving

Marijuana & Driving: Challenges Recreational and Medicinal Use Chronic v. Occasional Use Presence v. Impairment Justification for per se Limit Duration of Impairment Concentration of THC

Challenges Data & Research Public Awareness & Understanding Public Policy

Crash Risk by % BAC DRUGS?

Traffic Safety Culture Nationally representative survey Web enabled U.S. residents Ages 16+ > 3,000

Drug Impaired Driving 56% - very serious threat for somebody to drive after using illegal drugs (vs. 66% for alcohol) 56% - very serious threat for somebody to drive after using prescription drugs 28% - very serious threat Nearly 1/3 drivers didn’t know how marijuana affects driving 8 of 10 drivers think driving w/in an hour of using marijuana increases crash risk Of those drivers who reported being users of marijuana > 1/3 of drivers reported droving w/in one hour of using marijuana in the past year

Attitudes About Countermeasures 68% support requiring all new cars to have built-in alcohol ignition interlock technology 78% support requiring ignition interlock use by all drivers convicted of DWI (even first-timers) 63% support lowering the legal BAC limit from .08 to .05 >80% of drivers support a per se law for marijuana, yet 54% didn’t know if their state had such a law

Marijuana Legalization Laws December 2014 (D.C.) Legalized for recreational and medicinal use (4 states + D.C. pending Congressional review) Legalized for medicinal use only (19 states) Not legal (27 states)

Road Map… Drugs & Driving by the Numbers Drugs/Marijuana & Driving: Challenges Prescription/OTC Drugs & Driving

Prescription Drugs: It’s Complicated Problem: no script not as prescribed (too much/little, timing, alcohol, polymedication, etc.) Caution: Please don’t scare patients Safe once patient stabilized

Older Adults > 90% take prescription medications > 2/3 take multiple medications < 20% had received warning from HCP

Shifting Demographics

AAA.com/RxDrugs

Quick Recap: Challenges Data & Research Public Awareness & Understanding Public Policy

QUESTIONS? Jake Nelson 202-942-2063 JNelson@national.aaa.com