The state is moving closer to signing off on Amsterdam-style pot cafes in Massachusetts, but what will this entrepreneurial win mean for safety on Bay State roads?

Right now, as the Herald reported, the Cannabis Control Commission is in the rule-drafting stage. If all goes according to plan after meetings and votes, the commission should have “enforceable social consumption regs” in place “come October,” said CCC Deputy General Counsel Michael Baker.

Which means in the near future Massachusetts patrons can step into a pot cafe, order some Super Silver Haze and partake on site.

And then what?

Some of those customers will get likely get behind the wheel of a car, and that’s where the legal marijuana high wears off fast.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a study from 2019-2021 at several trauma centers and medical examiner offices involving drivers who were seriously injured or killed. The study found that about 26% of those drivers had active THC, which is found in marijuana, in their system.

The Centers for Disease Control says marijuana users are 25% more likely to be involved in a crash than those who don’t consume it. A CDC report noted that the number of people who acknowledge operating a motor vehicle after consuming marijuana spiked by 47% in a four-year span.

Weed can slow reaction times and blunt cognitive performance, according to the NHTSA. That’s a recipe for disaster for pot-smoking drivers, their passengers, and everyone else on the road.

Will the CCC address this, in terms of liability for impaired driving? Massachusetts has dram shop laws on the books, which hold bars and other establishments selling alcohol liable for damages caused by an intoxicated person. Those who sell alcohol have a responsibility to ensure their patrons aren’t in a state in which they could harm others.

What of weed? What happens if a pot cafe patron overindulges in some Blue Dream, starts to drive home and crashes into another car, building, or pedestrian? Is a pot cafe owner any less liable than a bar overserving a customer?

This needs to be addressed before the flyers go out for any grand opening.

Legal marijuana and the ensuing dispensaries that sprang up around Massachusetts have been largely portrayed as a boon to the economy, a boost for tax revenue, and a small business owner bonanza. None of that should downplay the hazards of impaired driving.

We’ll need more than education campaigns aimed at cafe owners and consumers to call an Uber if there are signs of impairment. That will work with some, just as the “Don’t Drink and Drive” campaigns have undoubtedly kept some from failing a breathalyzer at the scene of an accident.

The bigger picture, unfortunately, is bleak: In 2022, over 13,000 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes, and on average, 32 people die daily in such incidents, according to the CDC.

The CCC needs to tap the breaks on the pot cafe plan until liabilities are set for establishments that serve marijuana to be consumed on site. It’s better to address this now, than down the road after a tragic fatality.

Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)