Ted Cruz Blasts Biden's Cannabis Rescheduling Plan, Says 'Drugged Driving' Will Lead To Car Accidents, Deaths

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) condemned the Biden administration’s plan to reclassify cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) from Schedule I to Schedule III during a Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. Cruz cited concerns such as increased car accidents, injuries and fatalities, which he associates with the legalization of marijuana.

Speaking before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight and Ports, Cruz shifted from general transportation issues to focus on marijuana legalization and its potential impact on road safety.

"Another notable issue is drugged driving," he said, referencing a prepared document. He cited a 2022 study indicating that from 2009 to 2019, the legalization of recreational marijuana correlated with a 6.5% rise in injury crash rates and a 2.3% increase in fatal crash rates.

"And yet the Biden administration, rather than working to keep our families safe on the roadways, has instead decreed that it will reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I substance to Schedule III," he said. "The American Trucking Association quickly followed this news with a letter highlighting that rescheduling marijuana without an explicit allowance for a test for its use would create confusion and result in ‘serious safety impacts to safety-sensitive industries.'"

Cruz, a long-time critic of marijuana legalization, has at the same time been critical of recommended federal guidance on alcohol consumption.

Although the hearing was not focused on marijuana and impaired driving, a representative from the American Automobile Association (AAA) provided additional insight into the issue. Jake Nelson, AAA's director of traffic safety and research, testified that while overall driving decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, a subset of drivers became more reckless, including driving after consuming cannabis and alcohol.

"Nationally, drivers admit to engaging more regularly in behaviors like speeding, red-light running and driving within an hour of using cannabis," Nelson said. "Most alarming was a 24 percent increase in self-reported drunk driving."

A February 2022 study revealed that more than 40 percent of U.S. drivers who consume both alcohol and marijuana self-reported driving under the influence of one or both of the substances.

Now read: E-Cigarettes: Deadly Trap For Kids, Says World Health Organization Report, Slamming Tobacco Industry’s Marketing Tactics

Photo of Ted Cruz by Consolidated News Photos on Shutterstock