Driving 'under the influence'...

[CanSocDem]

...isn't as dangerous as they would have us believe, according to a recent "First of its kind" study.

http://now.uiowa.edu/2015/06/ui-studies-impact-marijuana-driving

'In 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers found the number of drivers with alcohol in their system had declined by nearly one-third since 2007. However, that same survey found the number of weekend nighttime drivers with evidence of drugs in their system climbed from 16.3 percent in 2007 to 20 percent in 2014. The number of drivers with marijuana in their system grew by nearly 50 percent.'


http://www.alternet.org/drugs/first-its-kind-study-finds-virtually-no-driving-impairment-under-influence-marijuana?akid=13539.1117531.y8GH6m&rd=1&src=newsletter1043369&t=16

' As expected, there was impairment in all areas when alcohol and cannabis were mixed. But cannabis itself, when taken in moderate amounts, seems to cause no significant driving impairment.

In fact, some would argue that it makes them drive safer or slower.

I would say that it makes them more aware of the driving environment. If they like order and stability, they'll do fine.


.

[mountain grammy]

1. What every marijuana user knows..

pot is not now, and has never been, as dangerous as alcohol, or anything else for that matter.

[WDIM]

2. It also depends greatly on the experience of the driver.

Dr Andrew Weil wrote about this in The Natural Mind.

The more one drives under the influence of mj the better driver they become while under the influence.

This is not the same for alcohol.

[brewens]

3. I got pulled over for a burnt out headlight several years back. I was stoned to the bone!

I also worked at a beer distributor and had three cases of assorted beer on the floorboard of my pickup. At the time, I wasn't drinking much ever though. The beer was some just barely outdated stuff I snagged for free for my buddies. It was about 11:30 at night I think.

I show the license and registration but am ordered out of the truck. I say I haven't been drinking and they don't smell alcohol but my eyes are freakin' bleeding! I had been getting stoned and playing video hockey with a buddy. I got pulled over after running him home, next stop was to drop off the beer at another buddies house.

They make me do the whole field sobriety test, shine the light in my eyes and all that and I pass with flying colors. The know I'm stoned though and the cops (another one showed up right away) are pissed because they can't do squat about it! I also had absolutely no weed or paraphanalia on me. I may have even had a little of the "you boys are shit out of luck" attitude! White guy, white area and white cops. You can get away with that.

That's what the field sobriety test is for right? I passed it and must have been pretty much fine to drive. They really should have had no problem with having to just let me go. Guys get screwed having to blow because they've been drinking even though they pass that. So then they blow at just .08% or a fraction higher and are nailed with a DUI. The cops make them blow because they can, when they should be letting them go.

I wouldn't recommend anyone drive after smoking weed if they aren't used to it. A normal stoner type though, is really no danger at all as far as I'm concerned.

[Warpy]

12. Uh, no. .08 is blotto

People who blow that are not going to pass a field sobriety test.

[brewens]

13. .08%=.008. That's the legal limit and can be like three beers in an hour. Almost no one

at just barely over that legal limit would seem to be what we usually think of as drunk.

[Warpy]

15. That's more than three units an hour

and when that percentage of your blood is alcohol, you're blotto.

[brewens]

16. Bullshit. So you say the cops will let someone go at .079% which would also be "blotto",

but bust them for DUI for that extra 1000th which could be like one more swallow. Any average sized guy that's used to drinking can pound a six-pack in an hour and have a pretty good buzz but is nowhere near staggering drunk. That's might be right around the legal limit and they shouldn't be driving but 99.9% of the time, if they do drive, they make it home just fine. For most people to be obviously driving erratically, it takes a lot more than that.

https://www.progressive.com/vehicle-resources/blood-alcohol-calculator/

Here's a calculator that's not much different from about any chart you find. It shows that a large guy, 250 lbs could have six beers in an hour and be right at the limit. I wouldn't trust that much though. I'm a commercial driver and never drive after more than two anyway.

[Warpy]

18. Not if that someone at 0.79% (which reads 0,8 on most of the breathalyzers out there)

can't pass a field sobriety test.

When they don't make it home, the consequences are horrific.

Bottom line: if you drink, don't drive.

[JayhawkSD]

4. I'm not going to be drawn into a flame war over this.

but "when taken in moderate amounts," is a really vague statement. In my drinking days I thought that a case of beer was a moderate amount because when I worked at it I would drink five cases in one day. A case of beer in an afternoon will, however, render you lethal behind the wheel of a car.

The road test measures one's physical reactions, but it does not assess judgement; the kind of judgement that makes one decide that driving 100mph is a good idea.

Just as I advocate that one should not drive after having a single drink, I advocate that one should not drive with any mind altering substance on board in any amount.

[tishaLA]

5. totally agree nt

[beveeheart]

6. My grandson has been telling me this for years.

If he and his friends are drinking, they always have a designated driver, but don't if they 're just smoking.

[Jeroen]

7. THC impairs cognition, psychomotor function and actual driving performance

I've used marijuana for over ten years. Should it be legal? Yes.
However, I strongly disagree that cannabis is harmless for every person and under any circumstance.
There are strong arguments for the legalization of marijuana, that it 'makes driving safer' is not one of them.


Some studies that contradict the study you have posted:

1. Cannabis Effects on Driving Skills
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3836260/
Research studies have shown negative effects of marijuana on drivers, including an increase in lane weaving and poor reaction time and attention to the road. Use of alcohol with marijuana made drivers more impaired, causing even more lane weaving (Hartman, 2013).


2. Dose related risk of motor vehicle crashes after cannabis use
http://www.drugandalcoholdependence.com/article/S0376-8716(03)00284-9/abstract?cc=y=

The role of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in driver impairment and motor vehicle crashes has traditionally been established in experimental and epidemiological studies. Experimental studies have repeatedly shown that THC impairs cognition, psychomotor function and actual driving performance in a dose related manner. The degree of performance impairment observed in experimental studies after doses up to 300 μg/kg THC were equivalent to the impairing effect of an alcohol dose producing a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) ≥0.05 g/dl, the legal limit for driving under the influence in most European countries.


3. Psychoactive substance use and the risk of motor vehicle accidents
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457503000848

The driving performance is easily impaired as a consequence of the use of alcohol and/or licit and illicit drugs. However, the role of drugs other than alcohol in motor vehicle accidents has not been well established. The objective of this study was to estimate the association between psychoactive drug use and motor vehicle accidents requiring hospitalisation.

[Warpy]

8. That's all theoretical and based on concentrated single ingredients.

Actual driving on pot was not measured.

I hated driving stoned, it really harshed my mellow. I was always very aware I was stoned and tended to overcompensate, driving on back roads and going slow.

Alcohol, on the other hand, disinhibits people and makes them think they're not impaired. That's the main problem with it, people take a few drinks and think they're Supermen. You often hear dumb college kids boasting how they drive better drunk. Uh, no, kid. You just feel bulletproof when you're drunk.

[Jeroen]

11. I hated driving stoned as well.

Never felt comfortable going out stoned, so most of the time I stayed home.
Cannabis, jazz and coffee. Perfect. Still mis it.

[brewens]

17. I've know a couple guys with multiple DUI's that swear they didn't mean to do it.

Already in trouble over it and they go out anyway, either intending not to drink much or to get a ride home if they do. Next thing they know, they're thinking they are okay and will make it just fine and get nailed again. It will do that to some people.

[Canoe52]

9. Reminds me of the Cheech and Chong movie...

"Wow man I'm really stoned, how fast are we going?"

"Hey man, I think we're parked"


You can't get any safer than parked!


btw, thank you State of Washington for legalizing mj, it really has made a difference in my life.

[olddots]

10. driving under the effects of depressants is different than driving under the effects

of pot which has multiple effects .Best to drive straight with NO distractions because driving is one of the dopiest things we have ever come up with .

[CanSocDem]

14. I have posted about this before...

...but in the 70's and early 80's, a large percentage of professional truck drivers used cannabis on a daily basis. You could pull into any major truck stop across the country and use your CB radio to take part in the market. The rational was that if you were going to spend weeks on the road, truck stop parking lots and grocery warehouses for a small amount of money, you had a right to 'feel good' which was an euphemism for feeling normal. Cannabis worked in that regard.

But you had to be good to avoid suspicion. You had to, first of all, be a seasoned truck driver. That was common in the 70's. And then, you had to be a seasoned pot smoker. That too, was common in the 70's. No accidents allowed. No stupid parking lot collisions and no weaving on the highway. Other truck drivers would call you out immediately. Everybody tried harder which you all know is a direct effect of cannabis.



.

[NightWatcher]

19. If tested right now I'd have evidence of drugs in my system and get a dui

I am not stoned, nor have I had any cannabis in two days.

I think more people are smoking, not smoking and driving. Cannabis markers stay in our system for longer than it takes a few beers to be undetectable. Smoke on the weekend, wreck on Wednesday, and you're labeled a stoner dui. That's not right, nor accurate.

[TheJames]

20. Ex-cabdriver,

long time occasional stoner. No problem maintaining a professional attitude with seriously increased enjoyment, but I have always greatly enjoyed both. Was even offered a racing sponsorship in my youth.
I seriously enjoyed driving cab in Austin, TX. I had this routine where if my customer introduced a currently inflammatory topic of conversation, I would go off on this virulent rant, watching the passenger for reaction, when they start to get really apprehensive or were approaching their destination, I would wind down my rant, take a deep breath, thank them and explain that, as a cabdriver, my job description required at least one hard core rant per day and that was mine for the day (whether it was or not). Almost invariably, it got a laugh and increased tip. Great fun!!!