Many Teen Drivers on ‘High’-way: Survey

A surprisingly large number of U.S. teen drivers admit to having driven under the influence of marijuana, according to Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions).

Liberty Mutual in Boston said its survey shows 19 percent of teen drivers admit to getting behind the wheel after smoking pot. That’s higher than the percentage of teen drivers who said they have driven after drinking alcohol, which was 13 percent. The study was conducted of 2,294 11th and 12th graders from 28 randomly recruited high schools countrywide last year.

The insurer says the numbers suggest that many teens simply don’t consider a marijuana high as a distraction to their driving.

“Marijuana affects memory, judgment, and perception and can lead to poor decisions when a teen under the influence of this or other drugs gets behind the wheel of a car,” said Stephen Wallace, senior advisor for policy, research, and education at SADD. “What keeps me up at night is that this data reflects a dangerous trend toward the acceptance of marijuana and other substances compared to our study of teens conducted just two years ago.”