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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (36938)	6/20/2005 11:11:42 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Did what shrink?

To: sandintoes who wrote (36938)	6/21/2005 1:35:44 AM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

Help reduce the accident rate! Get stoned! Message 21435522 Myth: No one has ever died from using marijuana The Kaiser study also found that daily pot users have a 30% higher risk of injuries, presumably from accidents. These figures are significant, though not as high as comparable risks for heavy drinkers or tobacco addicts. That pot can cause accidents is scarcely surprising, since marijuana has been shown to degrade short-term memory, concentration, judgment, and coordination at complex tasks including driving.(1) There have been numerous reports of pot-related accidents --- some of them fatal, belying the attractive myth that no one has ever died from marijuana. One survey of 1023 emergency room trauma patients in Baltimore found that fully 34.7% were under the influence of marijuana, more even than alcohol (33.5%); half of these (16.5%) used both pot and alcohol in combination.(2) This is perhaps the most troublesome research ever reported about marijuana; as we shall see, other accident studies have generally found pot to be less dangerous than alcohol. Nonetheless, it is important to be informed on all sides of the issue. Pot smokers should be aware that accidents are the number one hazard of moderate pot use. In addition, of course, the psychoactive effects of cannabis can have many other adverse effects on performance, school work, and productivity. Up to the Table of Myths. Myth: Marijuana is a major road safety hazard A growing body of research indicates that marijuana is on balance less of a road hazard than alcohol. Various surveys have found that half or more of fatal drivers have alcohol in their blood, as opposed to 7 - 20% with THC, the major psychoactive component of marijuana (a condition usually indicative of having smoked within the past 2-4 hours).(3) The same studies show that some 70 - 90% of those who are THC-positive also have alcohol in their blood. It therefore appears that marijuana by itself is a minor road safety hazard, though the combination of pot and alcohol is not. Some research has even suggested that low doses of marijuana may sometimes improve driving performance, though this is probably not true in most cases.(4) Two major new studies by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration have confirmed marijuana's relative safety compared to alcohol. The first, the most comprehensive drug accident study to date, surveyed blood samples from 1882 drivers killed in car, truck and motorchycle accidents in seven states during 1990-91.(5) Alcohol was found in 51.5% of specimens, as against 17.8% for all other drugs combined. Marijuana, the second most common drug, appeared in just 6.7%. Two-thirds of the marijuana-using drivers also had alcohol. The report concluded that alcohol was by far the dominant drug-related problem in accidents. It went on to analyze the responsibility of drivers for the accidents they were involved in. It found that drivers who used alcohol were especially culpable in fatal accidents, and even more so when they combined it with marijuana or other drugs. However, those who used marijuana alone appeared to be if anything less culpable than non-drug users (though the data were insufficient to be statistically conclusive). The report concluded, "There was no indication that marijuana by itself was a cause of fatal accidents." (It must be emphasized that this is not the case when marijuana is combined with alcohol or other drugs). The second NHTSA study, Marijuana and Actual Driving Performance, concluded that the adverse effects of cannabis on driving appear "relatively small" and are less than those of drunken driving. (6) The study, conducted in the Netherlands, examined the performance of drivers in actual freeway and urban driving situations at various doses of marijuana. It found that marijuana produces a moderate, dose-related decrement in road tracking ability, but is "not profoundly impairing" and "in no way unusual compared to many medicinal drugs." It found that marijuana's effects at the higher doses preferred by smokers never exceed those of alcohol at blood concentrations of .08%, the minimum level for legal intoxication in stricter states such as California. The study found that unlike alcohol, which encourages risky driving, marijuana appears to produce greater caution, apparently because users are more aware of their state and able to compensate for it (similar results have been reported by other researchers as well.(7)) It should be noted that these results may not apply to non-driving related situations, where forgetfulness or inattention can be more important than speed (this might explain the discrepancy in the Baltimore hospital study, which looked at accidents of all kinds). The NHTSA study also warned that marijuana could also be quite dangerous in emergency situations that put high demands on driving skills. paranoia.lycaeum.org

To: sandintoes who wrote (36938)	6/21/2005 11:05:37 AM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

5 Krispy Kreme Officers Resign, 1 Retires Tuesday June 21, 10:30 am ET Krispy Kreme Directors' Committee Determines Six Officers Should Be Fired; 5 Resign, 1 Retires WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Doughnut maker Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said Tuesday that a special committee of the company's independent directors has decided that six unnamed company officers should be fired. Five of the executives have resigned and one has retired. Krispy Kreme shares were halted for trading early Tuesday. They closed Monday at $7.67 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has steadily declined from its year-ago high of $21, hitting a 52-week low of $5.05 in February. Shares are down about 39 percent so far this year. The company said the six officers include four senior vice presidents and were in the areas of operations, finance, business development, and manufacturing and distribution. Krispy Kreme intends, for the time being, to fill these positions with existing personnel. The company's special committee is continuing its investigation. Krispy Kreme said it is cooperating fully with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission in their respective investigations. Last fall, the company formed a special committee of independent directors to examine whether earnings should be restated. Krispy Kreme also has been hit with several lawsuits, including one that alleges workers lost millions of dollars in retirement savings because executives at the company hid evidence of declining sales and profits. In addition, the company faces a criminal inquiry by a federal prosecutor in New York and an investigation by the SEC into financial irregularities. Last week, Krispy Kreme said it will miss a deadline for filing financial results for the first quarter that ended May 1, and expects to post a loss when it does file the report. In a filing with the SEC, Krispy Kreme said it was unable to file the quarterly report because of the ongoing internal review of its accounting practices for fiscal 2005 and earlier years. biz.yahoo.com