Saturday is 4/20, the annual unofficial high holiday (sorry, we know) of the year for marijuana users. With the legalization of marijuana in Washington and many other states in the past decade, the substance and culture surrounding it have moved closer to the mainstream.
Depending on who you talk to, that could be a good or a bad thing. As for The Chronicle’s editorial board, we’re neutral. Washington treats marijuana similarly to alcohol — they’re even regulated by the same agency. It’s an individual’s personal choice whether they want to use marijuana, as long as they do so legally.
But as with alcohol or any other intoxicating substance, legal or illegal, each individual has the obligation to partake responsibly, or face the consequences.
Never were the consequences of irresponsible pot usage so apparent as in the case of the collision in May 2017 that claimed the life of Centralia High School senior Cheyllyn Collinsworth, just a few weeks before she was set to graduate as one of the top students in her class.
Collinsworth was driving on Old Highway 99 in Grand Mound when another vehicle crossed the centerline and hit her vehicle head on. She died at the scene. First responders reported finding a ‘significant amount’ of marijuana in the other vehicle, and its driver, Donald Siegler of Rochester, was arrested for driving while high. His blood THC level was tested at 6.5 ng/mL in his blood, just over the legal limit for THC while driving in Washington of 5.0 ng/mL of active THC.
He later pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and was sentenced to five years in prison.
This weekend, Cheyllyn’s mother Deborah Collinsworth is marking 4/20 in a different way than most. She is participating in an emphasis patrol organized by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission intended to catch impaired drivers. Law enforcement agencies throughout Thurston County plan to participate, and Collinsworth plans to ride along with an officer.
“To be a victim of this type of crime, and having to go through the process, it’s a very long process, it’s very frustrating, but I learned a lot. … The message I want to get out is, consuming marijuana is just like consuming alcohol. If you’re going to participate in drinking or marijuana, plan for different modes of transportation, because it kills,” she told The Chronicle earlier this week.
We couldn’t agree more. If you plan to partake this weekend, don’t get behind the wheel — for your sake, and for the sake of anyone else out on the road.
