Certainly no one advocates driving when high on marijuana, especially a criminal defense attorney, but the interesting news about state medical marijuana laws being associated with lower traffic fatality rates should spark some interesting discussion when the Colorado Legislature reconsiders it driving under the influence of drugs law next year.

One researcher said the drop in fatality rate could be attributed to young people in those states spending less time drinking and more time smoking cannabis. Legalization of medical marijuana, the researchers said, is associated with a 12-percent drop in the alcohol-related fatal-crash rate and a 19-percent decrease in the fatality rate of people in their 20s, according to the study.

Apparently, medical- marijuana legalization is associated with a drop in beer sales. Read more about this at the Denver Post.