Driving impaired by alcohol versus marijuana .

There's a new study out on comparison between the two different types of impaired driving . The information in the study might surprise some people . I have always had a problem with marijuana limits currently applied to DUIs . Comes to me as no surprise to that by this testing my premise seems correct .

A new study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse finds that drivers with blood concentrations of 13.1 ug/L THC, which is more than twice the 5 ug/L limit in Washington and Colorado, exhibit impairment similar to those with a .08 breath alcohol concentration, reports Time.

The small study of 18 occasional pot smokers between 21 and 37 involved a 45-minute driving simulator in a 1996 Malibu sedan at a University of Iowa dome. Not only did researchers test different combinations of high or low concentrations of THC, alcohol, the combination of the two, and placebos, but they also looked at 250 parameters of driving, with a focus on weaving.

While alcohol affected both lateral acceleration (weaving speed) and lane departures per minute, marijuana alone did not, reports Reason Magazine, which takes issue with current limits: “The five-nanogram cutoff in practice means that many regular cannabis consumers can never legally drive, even when they’re not impaired, which hardly seems sensible or fair.”

I've always had the same problem with the 5 ng limit that is in my last highlighted statement. Under those conditions a regular pot smoker who had not smoked could be convicted of aggravated vehiclular homicide if an accident occurred .

Now by no means do I approve of smoking marijuana and driving . But I never liked the idea of being convicted of impaired driving while not actually impaired .

This seems to be a step in the right direction. And a policy like this I could stand behind until a more accurate test for actual intoxication by THC are devised . But the current system should not stand because how can you be convicted of impairment if you are not actually impaired ?


source

I'll break it down...

A stoned driver thinks he's being pulled over by the street sweeper.

A drunk doesn't see and runs over and kills the street sweeper.

Any other comparison is a lie.

a reply to: whyamIhere

Clear precise to the point and funny !!!!!

I always look forward to your replies .

Want to know something else weird?
The methadone clinic in my town distributes Methadone and Suboxone.
To get your prescription you have to show them your drivers license. Once they confirm its you they give you a daily monitored dose of either meth or sub, give you your script and send you on your way.
You are impaired when you leave the clinic and get behind the wheel.

a reply to: whyamIhere

I heard it as:

A drunk driver doesn't see the red light and blows through it..

A stoned driver waits for the stop sign to turn green.

That's a propaganda against alcohol...

I've already won 11 races been drunk... in gran turismo!

Alcohol is a natural medicine... It can make you drive like Schumacher
(Or -more likely-, think you can drive like Schumacher)

Big pharma doesn't want you to know it's true medicinal purposes

originally posted by: Dr1Akula
That's a propaganda against alcohol...

I've already won 11 races been drunk... in gran turismo!

Alcohol is a natural medicine... It can make you drive like Schumacher
(Or -more likely-, think you can drive like Schumacher)

Big pharma doesn't want you to know it's true medicinal purposes

But if it made you ski like Schumacher it would be an entirely different story .

originally posted by: Dr1Akula
That's a propaganda against alcohol...

I've already won 11 races been drunk... in gran turismo!

Alcohol is a natural medicine... It can make you drive like Schumacher
(Or -more likely-, think you can drive like Schumacher)

Big pharma doesn't want you to know it's true medicinal purposes

Ah yes the ol gran turismo drunk. I don't know how drunk I am till I stand up and attempt to race again. Then realize it's bed time and I am 7 beers in and I was attempting a 24h race at 11pm, what was I thinking?!

a reply to: macenroe82

Methadone and (esp) Suboxone don't have the same effects as regular, street opiates (which aren't even the most dangerous to drive under, anyway). It's a common misconception, which is why I bothered posting.

Most users of Methadone and Suboxone feel absolutely "normal"... especially after they have leveled off, maintained a steady blood level and taken the substances for a while... the problems then come when their levels are too low, because their brains no longer produce natural opiates and are then impaired from a lack of those brain chemicals.

Either way, nobody should drive when impaired at all... it's simply that the responsible users of methadone and suboxone are not impaired... it's more like insulin replacement therapy.

And good point re the OP.. .very true, and the laws will have to reflect real life in regards to the long life of MJ metabolites in the blood.

originally posted by: whyamIhere
I'll break it down...

A stoned driver thinks he's being pulled over by the street sweeper.

A drunk doesn't see and runs over and kills the street sweeper.

Any other comparison is a lie.

Kinda like...

A drunk driver will blow a stop sign...

A stoned driver will wait for it to turn green



Edit: bah... someone beat me to it

a reply to: Baddogma

The only reason why i mentioned it is because last week while i got my weekly monitored Sub dose and carries,
i noticed a girl get her 180 mg of method one then walk upstairs for her jib with the Dr.
She came down the stairs at the clinic about 15 minutes later. She was holding the hand rail for dear life and was visibly a complete mess. I walked out of the clinic behind her to my car and this woman was tripping over herself. She turned around and asked to bum a smoke. She had one eye looking at me, the other looking for me. She was getting the nods hard. I gave her a smoke and got in my car. I was astonished to see her unlock a car door and get in the drivers seat. I was thinkin this broad is going to kill someone leaving here like that. She backed up almost right into the car parked beside me but came to a sudden halt inches away from the front bumper, then pulled on the street.
Now ive idiotically got in the drivers seat while high on H before and had the nods to the point where i would have to hit a parking lot for a bit to puke then get on my merry way. But just like you said - im used to my dose of 24 mg of sub so it doesnt effect me when i take it.

originally posted by: macenroe82
a reply to: Baddogma

The only reason why i mentioned it is because last week while i got my weekly monitored Sub dose and carries,
i noticed a girl get her 180 mg of method one then walk upstairs for her jib with the Dr.
She came down the stairs at the clinic about 15 minutes later. She was holding the hand rail for dear life and was visibly a complete mess. I walked out of the clinic behind her to my car and this woman was tripping over herself. She turned around and asked to bum a smoke. She had one eye looking at me, the other looking for me. She was getting the nods hard. I gave her a smoke and got in my car. I was astonished to see her unlock a car door and get in the drivers seat. I was thinkin this broad is going to kill someone leaving here like that. She backed up almost right into the car parked beside me but came to a sudden halt inches away from the front bumper, then pulled on the street.
Now ive idiotically got in the drivers seat while high on H before and had the nods to the point where i would have to hit a parking lot for a bit to puke then get on my merry way. But just like you said - im used to my dose of 24 mg of sub so it doesnt effect me when i take it.

Maybe it's just me?
But immediately upon seeing her condition and especially after I had interaction with her. My first question would have been are you going to drive ?

I run into this position regularly with hardheaded drunks. If I don't think they should drive I tell them they shouldn't. If they insist on driving I tell them I'm going to immediately called 911. Only the truly deserving idiots drive after that .

On many occasions I have taken people to get something to eat to sober up . Personally I think waffle house is a great deterrent against drunk driving .

a reply to: Greathouse

Actually, I'd think Waffle House is a reason many of us abuse substances in the first place, heh... but I hear ya.

I'm a vet of the fast lane and have lost many to drunk driving ... both innocent and very guilty... and am firmly on the law's side in this case. Actually, I've lost more people to unregulated black market substances and fear of law enforcement in overdose scenarios... but impaired driving threatens all.

But it's quite complex and blanket laws don't work in some cases... we need to be able to gauge impairment despite tests showing chems present, as in many cases the mere presence of drugs doesn't inform how impaired someone is... as was the point of this whole thread!

a reply to: Greathouse

It did cross my mind, an i thought about it all the way home.
Then i thought to myself, what would i tell the cops?
Ya hi i was at the junky clinic getting my dose and i seen some broad get a little to high before she drove away.
Of course i could just lied and said that i seen her driving irradically. An i might of even prevented an accident if she ended up getting in one.
But i imagine the girls got enough problems on her plate, hence being at the clinic in the first place. Not everyone has the same out look as i do. I realized i was screwing up, having a high paying job with nothing to show for it but an opiate addiction. So i manned up, got the help and been off illegal drugs for 3 years. 32 years old, a mining engineer and my wife, kids and i, have everything and anything we want. Now i know im not clean because im still dependant on suboxone to live a normal life. But im back to being a human again, not just an empty husk.

a reply to: Macenroe82

It did cross my mind, an i thought about it all the way home.

I've said this before. But honestly even more so now when I run into a moral dilemma in public . The first thing I do is look around for cameras while half expecting John Quinones to pop out of the bush .