How impaired does marijuana

SixFive

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Make a person in regards to driving? With all this talk about legalization etc, its just something I don't know that I would like more information on.

How about comparing it to alcohol. If you drink for a few hours straight, you're obviously going to be impaired and unsafe to drive. Does the same to for pot?

If your wife and small children were on the road, would you rather oncoming traffic be pot smokers or drinkers (not comparing it to texting here, so please don't throw that in).

Is there a field sobriety test for marijuana? Do the levels in your blood build like alcohol? I really don't know and want to be more informed. Thanks.
 

smurphy

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I think a big difference is when drunk, a person wants do drive. When high, they don't even want to walk to the next room.
 

gardenweasel

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Make a person in regards to driving? With all this talk about legalization etc, its just something I don't know that I would like more information on.

How about comparing it to alcohol. If you drink for a few hours straight, you're obviously going to be impaired and unsafe to drive. Does the same to for pot?

If your wife and small children were on the road, would you rather oncoming traffic be pot smokers or drinkers (not comparing it to texting here, so please don't throw that in).

Is there a field sobriety test for marijuana? Do the levels in your blood build like alcohol? I really don't know and want to be more informed. Thanks.

it depends on how many kilos you do....
 

Penguinfan

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Be prepared for an onslaught of answers depending on what a persons point of view is on the subject.

Stoners will tell you it doesn't hamper their ability to drive at all, which is garbage.

Pot slows your reaction time and hurts your ability to maintain focus. That can only impair your ability to drive a vehicle (though you may only be driving at 4 MPH). I don't think it's as bad as being drunk , but I still don't want either on the road when my family is around.
 

SixFive

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I want to know personal unbiased experience (I'm sure plenty here have been drunk and stoned), and I want to know the legal precedents when pulled over while driving. Thanks for the responses so far except gw and joker.
 

Hashish

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Personally, I feel like I normally drive better when I am a little stoned. If I am super baked, then it does hamper my concentration, but it is still nowhere as detrimental to my driving ability as drinking is.

Objectively, there have been research studies that show that driving while stoned is far safer than driving drunk. In fact, driving baked has been shown in some studies to be safer than driving sober. This is mainly attributed to the slowing down of stoned drivers, but I also attribute it equally to the focusing ability it gives me and many others who utilize it.
 
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Cie

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I've driven high a thousand times. There is no doubt that driving "on weed" is safer than driving on booze, but no way should one be allowed by law to drive stoned, as it will clearly affect your reaction time, etc.

One of the biggest issues with pot legalization is figuring out a way to test drivers accused of DUI. Breathalyzer won't work, and blood testing is invasive. Plus, thc lingers in the body for 30 or more days, so it would be difficult, if not impossible, to determine if a driver is intoxicated at the time, or just burned one down a week earlier.
 

gardenweasel

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Cie;3532055[B said:
]I've driven high a thousand times. There is no doubt that driving "on weed" is safer than driving on booze, but no way should one be allowed by law to drive stoned, as it will clearly affect your reaction time, etc. [/B]

One of the biggest issues with pot legalization is figuring out a way to test drivers accused of DUI. Breathalyzer won't work, and blood testing is invasive. Plus, thc lingers in the body for 30 or more days, so it would be difficult, if not impossible, to determine if a driver is intoxicated at the time, or just burned one down a week earlier.

shouldn`t this prove to be a real ball buster in regard to law enforcement and for insurance purposes?....

if a guy has or causes an accident at work(or driving) and it turns out he tests positive for thc,can`t he claim he smoked it the night before and not at work or on his lunch break?......unlike alcohol,i`m not sure you can prove whether he`s lying or not(i`ve read thc can stay in one`s system for weeks)....

a toughy...

/try and keep it real for you 6.5...:0074
 

fatdaddycool

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I think asking what level of impairment one is at when high is too big of a question to answer or find a solution for. There are several levels of THC intoxication and that same drug can have several different effects on different people. I have been drunk and I have been high. I have driven, not in over 13 years, drunk, high on LSD, after I railed through an eight ball with a buddy, wet, and just about everything else you can imagine in my lifetime. By far the least dangerous of them would be high on marijuana or even hashish. To say your focus is definitely impaired is absolutely incorrect as some are more focused after a few hits of really good shit. I smoke pot regularly and rarely drink anymore. I promise you, regardless of how much I smoke and given the opportunity you use eye drops and a breath mint, there is no way you would be able to tell me with any degree of certainty that I am impaired in the least. I also assure you that I can still take any test and perform any task to the absolute limit of my capabilities, regardless of how high I might be. I also have much more experience with the stuff than a 16 year old might.
Think about one thing though. One of the questions raised was how to find a comprehensive test to prove that someone is under the influence of pot or detect how impaired the driver is. My answer is that all arrests for driving under the influence of anything are supposed to start with the driver displaying outward signs of intoxication or as some put it, impairment. Isn't it kind of an oxymoron to say there should be a way to test the level of impairment of someone who shows no outward or visible signs of impairment. Isn't that kind of the whole meaning of the word impairment?


Hope this helps,
FDC
 

bjfinste

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I watched a show last week on Discovery where they did controlled testing with addicts doing various things, including driving. They did each test sober, and then again under the influence. There were four addicts: one with weed, one with heroin, one with cocaine and one with meth. The cocaine and meth guys were by far the most reckless, while the main takeway from the guy on weed was that he drove very slow compared to the others (slower than he did on his sober drive).
 

bjfinste

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One of the biggest issues with pot legalization is figuring out a way to test drivers accused of DUI. Breathalyzer won't work, and blood testing is invasive..

Blood tests for DUI are routine, at least in Arizona. They ask for consent, and if the person won't give it, there is an on-call magistrate who will issue a warrant for a blood draw pretty much on the spot.

The length of time THC remains in the blood is a big hurdle, though. I don't know the answer.
 

saint

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Saw some good tests that show chronic pot users aren't impacted at all, occasional users are impaired somewhat.
 
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