Marijuana use is surpassing alcohol use among teen drivers, according to a recent study of 2,294 high school juniors and seniors conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions).
Nearly 20 percent of teen drivers reported having driven under the influence of marijuana in the recent survey. About 36 percent of these teens said the drug presented no distraction to their driving. This can be compared to the 13 percent of teens who reported having driven under the influence of alcohol, 19 percent of whom said the drug presented no driving distraction.
Other notable findings include these:
- Only 70 percent of surveyed teens characterized marijuana use as “very” or “extremely” distracting to driving, down 8 percentage points from 2 years earlier
- About 90 percent of drivers said they would stop driving under the influence of marijuana if asked by their passengers, but only 72 percent of passengers said they would ask a stoned to refrain from driving
- Nearly 94 percent of drivers would stop driving under the influence of alcohol if asked by passengers, while 87 percent of passengers would speak up.
