1 In 5 Auto Accident Deaths Now Involves Marijuana Use

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If you read the inferences from some of the posters you see disdain for those that partake in cannabis but don't hold that same disdain for alcohol. I went back and re-read all the posts to see if my point was valid and I believe it is.

Read them again. Everyone here, I'm sure, does not appreciate impaired drivers. Doesn't matter if that's alcohol, marijuana, or some other drug.
 
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That is no more or less accurate than the alternative.
You clearly don't understand how a hypothesis is developed, studied, and analyzed.

The lack of credible studies should be an indicator to any sane person that legalization should not be done until the effects are known.

With alcohol, we understand the absorption and desorption rates and how they relate to metabolization. We can predict accurately a BAC which equates to some level of impairment. And we label products which contain alcohol with the % of concentration, and have published scales of body mass to time. Etc ...

None of that exists with THC; there are no credible studies which indicate we understand the rates of metabolizing the drug, especially since there are different methods of doing so (inhalation; ingestion; absorption). Further, there's not any decent data which indicates what level of X% in the body equates to Y% of impairment. The FDA and NHTSA have not even made any efforts to define the above.

And none of that addresses the fact that often THC is consumed by some folks in concert with other drugs (alcohol; meth; etc). As hard as it would be to define how THC affects the competency of a person, it would be even more hard to discern the effects in contributory circumstances.

I'm against any efforts to first legalize a currently-banned product, and then "let's see what happens" second. That's a STUPID way to release any product into a marketplace.

I've seen firsthand the effects of impairment; how it maims and kills with no discretion. Not for one second do I think impairment from THC is any more or less dangerous than any other form of impairment.
Marijuana has been mainstream in America since the 1960's and was underground since the early 1900's.
While controversial, medicinal use is legal in 28 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico. About half the states have legalized recreational use.
The most common conditions accepted by states that allow medicinal cannabis relate to relief of the symptoms of cancer, glaucoma, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and MS.

Today, I believe Israel is the leader in marijuana studies. There are more than 110 clinical trials involving cannabis are underway, more than any other country.
The US Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act became effective in Dec 2022.

Don't get me wrong, I am the last one to recommend any recreational drug use, but pot has been around for a long time. Naysayers have been demonizing the devil weed forever, but it seems to be the least of the many evils. And it certainly appears to have helped a lot of very sick people. Perhaps you've heard the "Charlotte's Web" story.
 
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What I found most interesting about the article was the research that suggests that pot usage increases the rate of drunk driving
It doesn't say that. There is a loose association that pot users are more likely to also be drunk. There is no support for the idea that those people would not be drinking if pot did not exist.
 
Talking specifically about the 1 in 5 claim, if you add-in the possibility that there was someone (including passengers) in one of the involved vehicles that had a small amount of cannabis product on them, or in one of the vehicles, it MIGHT be possible to make this claim, but it is a stretch to assume the person who caused the accident was high in 20% of the incidents. Just because someone is in possession of cannabis doesn't mean that they are currently impaired by it. Ask any LEO and they will tell you that they don't automatically make this assumption. IMO that 1 in 5 claim is misleading at best.
 
That is the same study. Again there is evidence that a bit more than half of the pot users were also drunk, but that does not mean that pot increases the occurence of drinking.

This is a sampling of fatal crash victims not people in general. About 40% are drunk in any case. So there will be considerable overlap of drunk with anything else you choose to study.
 
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Being a 1953 born boomer and part of the "love the one you're with" generation (which was true BTW, fun times), alcohol, pot, and psychedelic use was rampant in my high school days ('68 to '71).

I can say with absolutely certainty, based on being there and seeing it, the "drunks", the "stoners", and the "acid heads" were the underachievers. They were either too wasted, burned out, or too busy tripping to succeed at anything.

In trig class I sat next to a daily acid tripper, a kid named Doug. He was harmless but was pretty much incapable of anything. I remember him just staring off in space during class, off in another world somewhere, clueless to Miss Howe's boardwalk in her way too short mini skirts.

Then there were the stoners, lighting up before they even left their homes in the morning. They were unmotivated and had a thick tongued dialect all their own.

And then there was me, a casual user of weed and much less extent alcohol. Unlike the hard core drunks, stoners, and acid heads I never lost sight of what my priorities were - and that was to follow the rules, pay attention, and do well in school and sports.

There is a fine line that delineates harmless casual usage versus daily excess. That distinction seems to get lost in today's discussions.

It's much like today's politics. Unless someone 100% agrees with the dogma of the blue or red, they're traitors to both sides.

IMO life far more nuanced. I refuse to follow political and social agendas. Go ahead, enjoy a few tokes once in awhile or enjoy a small glass of wine at night. It's just that if you hit it hard every day or night, or hit it multiple times a day, just realize there are occupations (like a doctor or pilot) and activities (like driving) that this is incompatible with.

Scott
 
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Smells like skunk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p :ROFLMAO:

But no one here has presented one bit of data or anything saying driving stoned is safe. It isn't.

Agree. As much as I know smoking weed is idiotic and makes people stupid (while stoned) I really dislike those kind of studies. They do the same junk with meat and fats.
That’s right. It smells gross. It carries on people’s clothes more than cigarette smoke. Go into a Walmart or similar low end store and over half the folks you walk by will reek of it. Not to mention cars driving around.

Fools.
 
The smell of weed makes me sick. Driving down the freeway I should not be able to smell your stink in my car!.... We get smelly pot cars to the shop too and they stink - just nasty. Driving while high is unsafe just like alcohol and other substances.

No kidding! Which means the driver was high while driving. People that smoke/ingest weed think they're okay to drive.
 
1 In 5 Auto Accident Deaths Now Involves Marijuana Use? I call BS on this one. It sounds like politically motivated propaganda to me. I'm not saying that it is OK to drive high, it isn't, and I'm not saying that SOME auto accident deaths involve marijuana use, but 1 in 5? Give me a break.
Could be 1 in 3. Point is YOU don't know either. But accident rates are up.

Texting is up, weed use has increased and more out there. Has drinking gone up? Dunno.
If you read the inferences from some of the posters you see disdain for those that partake in cannabis but don't hold that same disdain for alcohol. I went back and re-read all the posts to see if my point was valid and I believe it is.
I don't care if someone smokes pot. But don't do it and drive.

But it's so stupid, some clown in a Bellingham park was standing in a grassy area smoking the stinkiest **** weed I ever smelled. Illegal. People took their kids away. Yay pot!!

Idiot drinks and drives? Complete and utter disdain. Chugging beers and acting stupid in a park. Disdain. EtOH is a liver poison!!

I am not sure what your point is, but do your pot at home and if you go out, walk or ride with someone. I don't care! I really don't.

But dangit, you and the texters have increased MY AUTO INSURANCE RATES. Not happy!
 
Marijuana has been mainstream in America since the 1960's and was underground since the early 1900's.
While controversial, medicinal use is legal in 28 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico. About half the states have legalized recreational use.
The most common conditions accepted by states that allow medicinal cannabis relate to relief of the symptoms of cancer, glaucoma, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and MS.

Today, I believe Israel is the leader in marijuana studies. There are more than 110 clinical trials involving cannabis are underway, more than any other country.
The US Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act became effective in Dec 2022.

Don't get me wrong, I am the last one to recommend any recreational drug use, but pot has been around for a long time. Naysayers have been demonizing the devil weed forever, but it seems to be the least of the many evils. And it certainly appears to have helped a lot of very sick people. Perhaps you've heard the "Charlotte's Web" story.
Yup, and marijuana was traditionally a drug of the poor and not white back in the 1980s when Ronnie started the war on drugs. My wife grew up in a very wealthy predominately white town in CT where cocaine was everywhere and no one ever got into trouble for it. A few towns over, people of lesser means were arrested and convicted for marijuana possession all the time. Enter crack, the poor person's version of cocaine, and again we saw an all-out war on crack while cocaine, while still illegal, was not given nearly as much attention. Despite its relative safety compared to almost all other drugs, many of these ideas from 30+ years ago about marijuana being dangerous because it's a "gateway drug" or that it really is more dangerous than people think, are just leftover nonsense from the war on poor people, I mean drugs. With mandatory sentencing laws and the fact that anyone lost decades of their lives in prison for marijuana, well, it is one of the great travesties of modern law enforcement.
 
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I can understand for medical use but can't figure out why it's legal for recreational use.
 
.......... However "more attentive when high" is kind of bs. I learned a long time ago to not do anything requiring intelligence (like driving etc) while high.......

It's pure nonsense.

No one performs better when they're intoxicated.... At anything. No matter what they say or claim. And that holds true regardless of what they're intoxicated with. If they did the workplace would be encouraging marijuana use where it was legal, not firing you if you fail a drug test by using it.

Even when engaged in recreational activities, most people don't like being around other people who are intoxicated. Regardless if they're drunk or stoned.

Trying to establish a defense of marijuana, by comparing it to alcohol, is nothing more than using one form of bad behaviour, in a futile attempt to justify another. Legalizing marijuana doesn't make it any better for you than it does alcohol.

In all of my life I have never known anyone who improved their health, job, marriage, or financial status , by becoming a drunk or a stoner..... But I have known many who have completely wrecked all of the above. And I didn't need a "scientific study" to confirm it either.
 
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That is no more or less accurate than the alternative.
You clearly don't understand how a hypothesis is developed, studied, and analyzed.

The lack of credible studies should be an indicator to any sane person that legalization should not be done until the effects are known.

With alcohol, we understand the absorption and desorption rates and how they relate to metabolization. We can predict accurately a BAC which equates to some level of impairment. And we label products which contain alcohol with the % of concentration, and have published scales of body mass to time. Etc ...

None of that exists with THC; there are no credible studies which indicate we understand the rates of metabolizing the drug, especially since there are different methods of doing so (inhalation; ingestion; absorption). Further, there's not any decent data which indicates what level of X% in the body equates to Y% of impairment. The FDA and NHTSA have not even made any efforts to define the above.

And none of that addresses the fact that often THC is consumed by some folks in concert with other drugs (alcohol; meth; etc). As hard as it would be to define how THC affects the competency of a person, it would be even more hard to discern the effects in contributory circumstances.

I'm against any efforts to first legalize a currently-banned product, and then "let's see what happens" second. That's a STUPID way to release any product into a marketplace.

I've seen firsthand the effects of impairment; how it maims and kills with no discretion. Not for one second do I think impairment from THC is any more or less dangerous than any other form of impairment.
You'd never have that alcohol data if it were illegal for the past 100 years.
 
You'd never have that alcohol data if it were illegal for the past 100 years.
Not true.

Medical research is able to be conducted on any substance as long as it's done with approval from the applicable governmental agencies (typically the FDA, DEA, etc)
.
We can have THC studies even though it's currently federally illegal.
We could have alcohol studies even if it were illegal. It's just that it was legal when those studies were being done.

Do not confuse correlation with causation.
 
My neighbor in his early 60s has been going through a very rough patch with himself and family. I had to help him into his home after he fell out of his truck. He did manage to park on the curb, but in the wrong direction.

On occasion I post here on the devils lettuce. My wife’s artwork before/after is strikingly different. Be mature about things and don’t be like my neighbor. Get an Uber. He is too prideful. Idiot.
 
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