A common misconception amongst many teens, and adults, is that driving under the influence of marijuana is not dangerous. They’re wrong. Not only does marijuana alter a person’s judgment and reaction time, but it also has the capability of making the user overdose.

After our news staff interviewed Shelby Township Police Officer Jim Malczewski, we learned a lot about the dangers of marijuana use while driving.

“There are so many misconceptions about the new marijuana law,” Malczewski said. “People think that they can just smoke it now automatically and they can possess it, but it’s just like driving under the influence of alcohol.”

From what we know, marijuana legalization laws are very loose and can alter from county to county. Currently, Shelby Township is working to keep marijuana out of the area. No marijuana shops are opened in the area and the township plans to keep it that way.

As of the beginning of 2019, officers have been able to identify high drivers through a series of sobriety tests along with blood drawings. These blood tests can identify if a person has smoked marijuana or put THC in their body over the course of around one month. The officers are consistent with their techniques and are put through lots of training.

The overall message is pretty simple: don’t be stupid. It only takes a couple hits to ruin a person’’s entire life. Don’t take that chance; it just isn’t worth the different consequences.

Even if marijuana legalization is new, most police departments have already been working to keep the roads safe. Impaired driving is never safe, and our police departments want to make sure that it will be as limited as possible.

The Arrow staff believes that the use of marijuana is never okay to use while driving. Not only are users putting themselves at a great risk, but also others at the same great risk. In a bad situation a user could hit an innocent driver or pedestrian. That would be a lot of time in prison along with a lifetime of guilt. Unfortunately, too many people have already fallen victim to car crashes caused by driving under the influence of marijuana.

It all stops as soon as people understand what can happen and how their actions could change the lives of themselves and others. This ongoing problem is dangerous and needs to be stopped.

To say that driving under the influence of marijuana is any different than driving under the influence of alcohol is idiotic. Both alter how a person thinks and reacts to things.

For example, a person who is driving completely sober would know when to turn onto a main road whereas a person who is under the influence of either marijuana or alcohol might get a little bit too confident, or not see a car coming their way.

The overall message is pretty simple: don’t be stupid. It only takes a couple hits to ruin a person’’s entire life. Don’t take that chance; it just isn’t worth the different consequences.