Florida driver said he used cannabis night before crash

The truck driver involved in the fatal Florida bus crash has told police he smoked marijuana oil the night before the collision, according to an arrest report.

Police say Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, sideswiped a bus carrying dozens of farmworkers with his pickup truck.

The Tuesday morning accident killed at least eight people and injured dozens.

Mr Howard also told police he had been in another accident three days prior to the fatal bus crash.

Police arrested Mr Howard after the crash. He faces eight counts of manslaughter while driving under the influence.

Mr Howard told police he was with a friend who had a medical marijuana card the night before the accident, according to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report. He said he smoked the marijuana oil with this friend and later took prescription medications before going to bed.

He told police that he was driving carefully on Tuesday morning because he crashed his mother's car three days earlier when attempting to dodge an animal that ran in front of the car.

His speech was slurred and his eyes bloodshot and watery during the interrogation, according to the arrest report.

Mr Howard said he left his parents' house around 06:30 EST (11:30 BST) on Tuesday morning to drive to a methadone clinic where he was receiving treatment for a chipped vertebrae.

Around 53 farmworkers were on the bus when Mr Howard's 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck, travelling in the opposite direction, sideswiped it not long after.

Forty people were transported to medical facilities after the collision, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety.

The accident happened in Dunnellon, roughly 45 miles (72km) south of Gainesville.

Mr Howard is currently being held without bond. His next court appearance is in June.