Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2020)
8A — THE OBSERVER TuESday, JunE 23, 2020 NATION Recreational pot laws may boost traffic deaths, studies say By Lindsey Tanner Associated Press WASHINGTON — Laws legalizing recreational marijuana may lead to more traffic deaths, two new studies suggest, although questions remain about how they might influence driving habits. Previous research has had mixed results and the new studies, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, can’t prove that the traffic death increases they found were caused by marijuana use. One study found an excess 75 traffic deaths per year after retail sales began in Colorado in January 2014, compared with states without similar laws. But it found no similar change in Washington state. The other study looked at those states plus two others that allow recre- Date Modifi ed: March 16, 2020 10:51 AM Photo by Gillian Jones, The Berkshire Eagle via AP In this May 25 file photo, agents Amanda Toma and Ashley Brodeur work with custom- ers in the parking lot of cannabis purveyor Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Laws legalizing recreational marijuana may lead to more traffic deaths, two new studies suggest. ational pot sales, Oregon and Alaska. If every state legalized recreational mar- ijuana sales, an extra 6,800 people would die each year in traffic accidents, the researchers calculated. They found an increase of 2 deaths per billion miles traveled compared with 20 states without those laws. That change was slightly higher than in the other study. Both involved several years of traffic death data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra- tion before and at least two years after retail sales of recreational pot began in the states examined. Those sales dates ranged from 2014 to 2016. The studies lack infor- mation on whether motor- ists were stoned when they crashed. Marijuana can remain in tissues for several days so even if toxicology tests detected it after a fatal crash, that wouldn’t prove the driver was impaired, said co-author Magdalena Cerda, a New York Univer- sity researcher. It’s possible that rec- reational pot laws might affect drivers’ use of other drugs, including alcohol, she noted. “That’s an open question we need to answer in fur- ther research,” Cerda said. A journal editorial said more rigorous research is needed including studies on how often motorists use drugs. “Clearly, introducing new legal intoxicants has the potential to ... lead to deaths due to impaired driving,” the editorial said. Recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states. Variations in sales taxes, purchase limits and other aspects of marijuana laws in each state could play a role in any impact on traffic deaths. Also, when the two- state study was done, pot stores were more densely located in Colorado than in Washington, which could have made the drug more readily available, the authors said. The four-state study, led by Dr. Russell Kamer of New York Medical Col- lege, accounted for jobless rates, maximum speed laws and seat-belt laws. But the authors said other factors they did not consider could have influenced traffic deaths. Surging U.S. virus cases raise fear that progress is slipping By Tamar Lush, Nathan Ellgren and Tammy Webber Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Coronavirus cases in Florida surpassed 100,000 on Monday, part of an alarming surge across the South and West as states reopen for business and many Americans resist wearing masks or keeping their distance from others. The disturbing signs in the Sunshine State as well as places like Arizona, Ala- bama, Texas and South Car- olina — along with coun- tries such as Brazil, India and Pakistan — are raising fears that the progress won after months of lockdowns is slipping away. “It is snowballing,” said Dr. Marc Boom, CEO and president of Houston Meth- odist Hospital, noting that the number of hospitaliza- tions in the Texas Medical Center system that includes the hospital has more than doubled since Memorial Day. “If we don’t do what we can RIGHT NOW as a community to stop the spread, the virus will take our choices away from us.” The number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases across the country per day has reached more than 26,000, up from about 21,000 two weeks ago, according to an Associated Press analysis of data com- piled by Johns Hopkins Uni- versity. The analysis looked at a seven-day rolling average through Sunday. Over 120,000 deaths in the U.S. have been blamed on the virus. In Orlando, 152 corona- virus cases were linked to one bar near the University of Central Florida campus, said Dr. Raul Pino, a state health officer in the resort city. “A lot of transmission happened there,” Pino said. “People are very close. People are not wearing masks. People are drinking, shouting, dancing, sweating, kissing and hugging, all the things that happen in bars. And all those things that happen are not good for COVID-19.” Although he asked health officials to renew calls for people to wear masks and keep their dis- tance, Gov. Ron DeSantis has not signaled he will retreat from reopening the state after three months of shutdowns that have dam- aged the economy. Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organiza- tion’s emergencies chief, said that the outbreak is “definitely accelerating” in the U.S. and a number of other countries, dis- missing the notion that the record daily levels of new COVID-19 cases simply reflect more testing. He noted that numerous countries have also noted marked increases in hos- pital admissions and deaths. “The epidemic is now peaking or moving towards a peak in a number of large countries,” he warned. Arizona, in particular, is seeing disturbing trends in several benchmarks, including the percentage of tests that prove positive for the virus. Arizona’s is the highest in the nation. The stat’s positive test rate is at a seven-day average of 20.4%, well above the national average of 8.4% and the 10% level that public health officials say is a problem. When the positive test rate rises, it means that an outbreak is worsening — not just that more people are getting tested. At Maryland’s Fort Washington Medical Center on the outskirts of the nation’s capital, workers described a scramble to find new beds, heart- breaking interactions with family members of criti- cally ill patients and their frustration with Ameri- cans who do not believe the coronavirus threat is real. “Everybody is out lounging on the beaches. Just thinking that it’s over. And it’s not,” respiratory therapist Kevin Cole said. “It’s far from being over. And unfortunately, it’s those people that will keep this pandemic going.” Nearly 9 million people have been confirmed infected by the virus world- wide and about 470,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins, though experts say the actual numbers are much higher because of limited testing and cases in which patients had no symptoms. Amid the global surge, the head of WHO warned that world leaders must not politicize the outbreak but unite to fight it. Tedros Adhanom Ghe- breyesus, who has faced criticism from President Donald Trump, said during a videoconference for the Dubai-based World Gov- ernment Summit that it took over three months for the world to see 1 million confirmed infections, but just eight days to see the most recent 1 million cases. Tedros did not men- tion Trump by name or his determination to pull the United States out of the U.N. health agency but warned against “politi- cizing” the pandemic. “The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself, it’s the lack of global solidarity and global lead- ership,” he said. “We cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world.” Companies around the world are racing to find a vaccine, and there is fierce debate over how to make sure it is distributed fairly. SWITCH SAMSUNG GALAXY S20 5G trade-in required Promotional pricing requires a new Smartphone service plan, new line, port-in, credit approval, qualified trade-in, qualified Smartphone purchase, Device Protection+ and comes via monthly bill credit on a 30-mo. RIC. Taxes, fees, and additional restrictions apply. 5G not available in all areas. 5G available in parts of IA and WI in 2020. See associate for details. Things we want you to know: New consumer or small business (25 lines or less) smartphone plan, new line, port-in, eligible device trade-in and Device Protection+ required. Tax due at sale. A Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee applies; this is not a tax or gov’t-required charge. Additional fees, taxes, terms, conditions and coverage areas may apply and vary by plan, service and phone. Credit approval and Auto Pay/Paperless billing required. Devices eligible for trade-in are Apple iPhone 8 or newer or Samsung Galaxy S9 or newer. Trade-in device must power on and cannot be pin locked. Trade-in device must be in fully functional working condition without any liquid damage or broken components, including, but not limited to, a cracked display or housing. Device Protection+ starts at $9.99/mo. per Smartphone. A service fee/ deductible per approved claim applies. You may cancel anytime. Property insurance is underwritten by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida and provided under a Master Policy issued to U.S. Cellular. You will be the certificate holder on U.S. Cellular’s Master Policy for loss/theft benefits. Service Contract Obligor is Federal Warranty Service Corporation in all states except CA (Sureway, Inc.) and OK (Assurant Service Protection, Inc.). Limitations and exclusions apply. OFFER DETAILS: Purchase of a qualifying device via 0% APR, $0 down, 30-mo. Retail Installment Contract (RIC) and receive a $1000 bill credit. Qualifying Devices: Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra 5G. $1000 Credit will be divided into 30 monthly credits and comes via a monthly bill credit on a 30-mo. RIC. Bill credit applied within 3 bill cycles and ends when balance is paid. Line must remain in good standing with required price plan for entire 30-mo. RIC. Customer may lose bill credit if price plan is changed. In the event of cancellation of Service, customer will be responsible for the entire RIC balance. Kansas Customers: In areas in which U.S. Cellular receives support from the Federal Universal Service Fund, all reasonable requests for service must be met. Unresolved questions concerning services availability can be directed to the Kansas Corporation Commission Off ice of Public Aff airs and Consumer Protection at 1-800-662-0027. Limited time off er. While supplies last. Trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. Off ers valid at participating locations only and cannot be combined. See store or uscellular.com for details. 5G not available in all areas. 5G available in parts of IA and WI in 2020. U.S. Cellular does not guarantee coverage. Coverage may vary and be interrupted or limited due to weather, terrain, customer equipment, or network limitations. See https://www.uscellular.com/coverage-map for details. ©2020 U.S. Cellular
