Stoners are better drivers

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In an attempt to show the dangers of using drugs while driving, the British government ended up proving what every pothead already knew, the LONDON TIMES reports: Stoners are better drivers.

Facing pressure from motorist organizations and anti-drug campaigners, the government commissioned a four-week study of doped-up drivers to gauge their reaction times and awareness. Instead of concluding — as the government clearly hoped they would — that drug use increased the risk of accidents, researchers instead found the mellowing effects of cannabis made drivers more cautious, and hence, safer.

The study is, to say the least, a setback for the government’s “don’t drive on drugs” campaign, which already includes several TV and radio spots.

“If you were to ask me to rank them in order of priority, fatigue is the worst killer, followed by alcohol, and drugs follow way behind in third,” said the author of the report.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

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