letter to the editor of The Age re "Drugs, dial, drive, bloody idiot?"

here's the article :

http://www.theage.com.au/news/editor...538863161.html

here's my letter to the editor in response :

------- Original Message --------
Subject: Response to "Drugs, dial, drive, bloody idiot?" - misleading
statistics
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 11:17:01 +1000
From: Carl Brewer
To:


I read with interest the editorial entitled "Drugs, dial, drive,
bloody
idiot?" in The Age on the 18th of July.

This is an interesting article, and one that on the whole
is worthwhile, and as a vulnerable road user (I ride bicycles
almost exclusivly as my main transport) I agree with the core
argument. However, it's important to not take the
recent statistics concerning random drug testing completely at
face value.

The current test, as I understand it, detects
any measurable amount of Cannabis, Methamphetamine etc in the
saliva. This is not necessarily the same thing as one may
call "being under the influence". I don't know how long drugs
such as cannabis stay detectable or at what concentration they
impair an individual's ability to concentrate, but it would
be a shame to misuse the statistic of 1 in 50 tested when that
may not reflect the real risks. Is simply walking through a
room where there is cannabis smoke within 24 hours of a
random drug test sufficient to show up on the test? Anecdotal
evidence would suggest that this is indeed the case.

We need attitudinal change, especially with regards to mobile
phone use in cars, but I suspect that the 1 in 50 drug use
statistic is misleading at best.

Thankyou

Carl Brewer