{"id":7351,"date":"2017-04-18T01:08:15","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=2618114"},"modified":"2017-04-18T01:08:15","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:08:15","slug":"colorado-marijuana-duis-drop-33-percent-in-the-first-quarter-of-2017-compared-with-last-year-but-officials-still-concerned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-marijuana-duis-drop-33-percent-in-the-first-quarter-of-2017-compared-with-last-year-but-officials-still-concerned\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado marijuana DUIs drop 33 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared with last year, but officials still concerned"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-marijuana-duis-drop-33-percent-in-the-first-quarter-of-2017-compared-with-last-year-but-officials-still-concerned\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>The number of citations for driving while under the influence of marijuana dropped by 33.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same period last year,\u00a0but the number of people using\u00a0marijuana and then driving continues to be a concern for Colorado officials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re still troubled by the fact that marijuana users are still telling us they routinely drive high,\u201d Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Sam Cole said Monday. \u201cWe\u2019re pleased with the awareness, but we\u2019re not so pleased with the behaviors that are actually happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cole said that in a survey conducted by CDOT, 55 percent of marijuana users said they believed it was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2016\/02\/11\/fewer-people-charged-in-colorado-with-driving-while-high-in-2015\/\">safe to drive while under the influence<\/a>.\u00a0So\u00a0three years ago when recreational marijuana was legalized,\u00a0according to Cole, CDOT launched the \u201cDrive High, Get a DUI\u201d campaign to raise awareness that driving while stoned was illegal.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2618173\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/colorado-marijuana-duis-drop-33-percent-in-the-first-quarter-of-2017-compared-with-last-year-but-officials-still-concerned\" alt=\"Consuming can cause crashing flyer\" width=\"2592\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Colorado Department of Transportation<\/p>\n<p>CDOT released the \u201cDrive High, Get a DUI\u201d campaign in response to the legalization of recreational marijuana.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of troubling information we\u2019ve collected and many marijuana users indicate they drive high and they don\u2019t think it\u2019s a danger,\u201d Cole said. He added that among survey respondents who said they used marijuana within the last 30 days, \u201cFifty percent of marijuana users say they have driven high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite CDOT\u2019s concerns and what marijuana users might think, the Colorado State Patrol reported that from January to March of 2017, 155 people were cited for marijuana-use-only impairment while driving, compared to 232 cited from January to March of 2016. The number of citations noting combined alcohol and marijuana use also declined, with 50 in the first quarter of 2017 compared with 69 in the first three months of 2016.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre the citations going down? Yeah, but is the number of people using marijuana and then driving going down? I don\u2019t know how to quantify that,\u201d said Nate Reid , a CSP\u00a0spokesman. \u201cThis is just after the officer stop. This isn\u2019t post-conviction or after they may have been arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recreational marijuana use might be somewhat new, but troopers have great experience detecting impaired drivers, Reid said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been arresting for marijuana for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no sure sign somebody is impaired by alcohol or drugs. It\u2019s the trooper\u2019s personal contact after a stop, along with their driving behavior. Troopers have been trained in advance for detecting alcohol and marijuana and other prescription drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>During the month of March in 2016, marijuana-related citations made up 17.8 percent of 337 total DUIs. In March 2017, marijuana-related citations made up 16.4 percent of 396 total DUIs.\u00a0There was a year-over-year decrease from seven to three fatal alcohol- and drug-related crashes in the same span.<\/p>\n<p>With 4\/20 just around the corner and thousands of marijuana users planning to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/20\/420-denver-colorado-guide-calendar\/75309\/\">commemorate the day in downtown Denver<\/a>, CDOT, CSP and other organizations are encouraging people to have a fun, but safe celebration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake the high road this 4\/20, and don\u2019t DUI!\u201d a release from CSP said. \u201cThe Colorado State Patrol will be in full force this 4\/20 week encouraging the public to get a safe ride home and not drive impaired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CDOT has partnered with ride share companies to offer discounted rides on Thursday and started the \u201c320 Movement\u201d with Lyft, where a fleet of 17 vehicles were wrapped in green \u201cPlan a ride before you\u2019re high\u201d messaging. The goal is to encourage marijuana users to plan ahead for a safe and sober ride leading up to 4\/20.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a lot of opportunities this week and the next four days to introduce behavior changes to marijuana users during 4\/20 so they can get in the habit of planning for a safe ride home,\u201d Cole said. \u201cWe want 3\/20 to be as synonymous with safety as 4\/20 is with having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number of citations for driving while under the influence of marijuana dropped by 33.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same period last year, but the number of people using marijuana and then driving continues to be a concern for Colorado officials. The number of citations for driving while under the influence of marijuana dropped by 33.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same period last year, but the number of people using marijuana and then driving continues to be a concern for Colorado officials. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6811,7087,6813,77,6815,9,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[6816,7088,6818,2655,6820,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}