According to a recent Gallup poll, about 12% of Americans say they use cannabis (medical or recreational). Also, that number has held steady since 2015.

But wait! You have to go to work soon. You have enough time to take a few tokes, but then you’ll have to drive while you’re high.

Using marijuana and driving high is dangerous for you as well as anyone else on the road! Keep reading to learn how cannabis can affect your driving and why you shouldn’t drive when you’re high.

How Does Cannabis Affect Your Driving

Anyone who has used cannabis can attest to the psychoactive effects or the feeling of being “high”. These are some of the ways getting high can affect the way you drive:

• Impaired cognitive abilities and quick decision-making skills
• Impaired motor coordination
• Reduced vision abilities

Keep in mind that, as much as cannabis affects your ability to drive, using alcohol can have much more of an intoxicating effect than marijuana. Drunk drivers tend to drive faster, and less safe than drivers under the influence of marijuana.

Using marijuana as well as alcohol will amplify the effects of both, so use caution of smoking pot while drinking alcohol.

Accidents Caused by Driving High

One thing that will kill your buzz faster than anything else is a car accident! Even a fender bender can cause a large amount of physical, emotional, and financial pain.

What if you drive for work? When you drive as part of your job duties, the last thing you want to experience is a work crash in a company vehicle. You could lose your job on top of any injuries you sustain!

Some studies show that drivers who use cannabis overcompensate for their perceived impairment and tend to drive slower. Drivers under the influence of alcohol were unable to compensate for their impairment and tend to drive faster than they should have while sober.

Problems With the Law

Another issue to be aware of is that, even though some states have legalized marijuana for medical/recreational use, cannabis is illegal in the eyes of the federal government. If a federal agent or officer pulls you over and smells your cannabis, you’re smoked!

Right now, there is no way to tell how much THC you have in your system from a breathalyzer test. But, the police can bring you in for a blood test and some states have legal limits of marijuana you can have in your system while operating a vehicle.

There’s a Time and Place for Everything… Including Smoking Green

No, you shouldn’t drive while under the influence of cannabis, but we’re not saying you should never partake! Like alcohol, ingesting cannabis, and then choosing to drive, could have dangerous consequences. Consider having a designated driver as you would on a night drinking with your friends.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you learned a few things about the dangers of driving high. If you’re looking for more marijuana-related articles, check out our Cannabis Explained section today!

Samantha Gaines wrote this article on behalf of FreeUp. FreeUp is the fastest-growing freelance marketplace in the US. FreeUp only accepts the top 1% of freelance applicants. Click here to get access to the top freelancers in the world.  

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