[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

Is driving while under the influence of marijuana generally as dangerous as driving while inebriated? My great state of New York has legalized marijuana. As long as an adult is not a sex offender or does not have criminal history of drug related crimes, they can get a state issued marijuana card and purchase pot at dispensary clinics (with slight limitations). Our governor and his supporters in the state legislator were primarily motivated by getting NY out of debt. Prisons are too overcrowded and too expensive to run, legalizing pot will reduce this they argue. I'm sure they're right. And they will be able to tax them.
Personally, with the exception of caffeine and anti-depressants, I'm done with using external forces to control my mood. As Truman Capote admitted during his last days when he finally gave up booze and drugs, they're all a monumental waste of time. He said it was those influences that prevented him from finishing Answered Prayers (joking that's going to be his posthumous novel, which it was)
But back to the question: does toking significantly put risk on pedestrians on the roads?

[charles1948]

A  very close friend of mine once told me, that driving after smoking "weed" is more dangerous than driving after drinking alcohol.

Because, although alcohol does slow down your physical reactions to events encountered while driving, such as seeing a red traffic-light "stop signal" up ahead - your mind still knows what the red light means - you have to stop.

Whereas, the "weed" can make your mind fail to recognise the significance of the red light.  You might think: "Oh what a pretty red light - its colour is so bright and lovely, I want to turn my eyes to contemplate it  -  as I drive past it."

[CliffordK]

I think the data is ambiguous.  Alcohol + Marijuana is supposed to be worse than either alone.

Apparently Marijuana does impact a number of things related to driving.

• Inability to concentrate and maintain attention
• Difficulty performing divided-attention tasks
• Reduced hand-eye coordination
• Distortion of time and distance
• Increased evaluation, decision, and reaction times
• Sleepiness
• Hallucinations

So far the number of pot intoxicated traffic deaths is far behind those of alcohol.  But, even in places pot is legal for both recreation and medicinal use, the numbers of users may still be limited making direct comparisons to alcohol difficult.

[chiralSPO]

I wouldn't say either is worse than the other. It depends on dosage and tolerance. (I won't drive if I've had more than a glass of wine in the last hour because I have quite a low tolerance for alcohol.) Both substances can be taken in amounts small enough, or long enough ago, that their effects are indistinguishable from baseline, or in amounts large enough to cause complete dissociation from reality (whether blacked-out drunk, or lost contemplating whether there is a difference between "now" and "right now")

A good rule of thumb is: if you feel different, you'll drive different. Don't drive drunk and don't drive high.

[charles1948]

I remember hearing years ago, this advice from an experienced police officer:

When you're driving in a stream of cars, keep in mind that 1 in 4 of the cars is likely being driven by someone who's off their face through drink or drugs.

[Origin]

My great state of New York has legalized marijuana. As long as an adult is not a sex offender or does not have criminal history of drug related crimes, they can get a state issued marijuana card and purchase pot at dispensary clinics (with slight limitations).

That is not correct, no card is needed.  It is perfectly legal for adults smoke pot in New York.  That being said smoking pot and driving is dangerous, as is texting or other distracted driving.

[charles1948]

Don't you weep for America.  It used to be  "The shining city, the best hope of  mankind" Now it's got into such a mess.

I mean, driving around legally stoked up with pot.   How can that be wise?
 

[Bored chemist]

I mean, driving around legally stoked up with pot.   How can that be wise?

I doubt it's legal.

[Origin]

I mean, driving around legally stoked up with pot.   How can that be wise?

It is illegal to drive while stoned.  I said it is legal for adults to smoke pot in NY, just like it is legal to drink alcohol.  It is not legal to drive while impared.  I live in NY and smoke pot so I am well aware of the laws.  If you have a question ask.

[charles1948]

I mean, driving around legally stoked up with pot.   How can that be wise?

It is illegal to drive while stoned.  I said it is legal for adults to smoke pot in NY, just like it is legal to drink alcohol.  It is not legal to drive while impared.  I live in NY and smoke pot so I am well aware of the laws.  If you have a question ask.

Sorry, I misunderstood your post.  Thanks for putting me straight.

[evan_au]

Part of legalizing pot is to consider where it will remain illegal - and how that will be enforced
- One could consider pilots, bus drivers, train drivers, truck drivers & car drivers as forbidden users
- It could be regarded as reasonable grounds for dismissal from work
- And so pot testing by airlines, on the roads and at work would be reasonable

In Australia, pot is still officially illegal, but when it was found to be contributing to an increasing number of car accidents, the police evaluated a number of ways of detecting it.
- If police suspect a driver of being intoxicated, they can administer an alcohol and/or drug test (this is like the USA)
- Also, cars can be stopped at random on the street or highway, and the driver subjected to a drug/alcohol test with no grounds at all (this is unlike the USA)
- There is even a reality TV show which accompanies real police on such duties, and telling the story of the people they catch. I guess this acts as object lessons for us all...

Police administer a screening drug test with a plastic tongue scraper device
- If it turns up positive, suspects are subjected to a more accurate test
- I understand that with increasing use of methamphetamines, these have been added to the roadside test

One of the differences between alcohol and pot is that the active ingredient of alcohol is water soluble, and normally flushed out by the kidneys overnight.
- I understand that the (multiple) active ingredients of pot are fat soluble, and can remain in your system for longer,

I don't know if this will be viewable in your country, but try this:

[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

Have any of you ever woke up in the morning next to an ugly naked person and thought "sh1t, if only I hadn't smoked pot last night I would not be in this situation..."

[conniejmilitello]

I can't help wondering about all those drugs vs. alcohol: How much is this huge difference the result of differing quantities of the drugs.  Perhaps people on dangerously high doses of benzodiazepenes, opiates, or thc aren't driving / perhaps most of those found to have those substance in their systems don't have enough to be impairing.

[jeffreyH]

I can't help wondering about all those drugs vs. alcohol: How much is this huge difference the result of differing quantities of the drugs.  Perhaps people on dangerously high doses of benzodiazepenes, opiates, or thc aren't driving / perhaps most of those found to have those substance in their systems don't have enough to be impairing.

Oh dear, you are the weakest link. Goodbye.

[chiralSPO]

I can't help wondering about all those drugs vs. alcohol: How much is this huge difference the result of differing quantities of the drugs.  Perhaps people on dangerously high doses of benzodiazepenes, opiates, or thc aren't driving / perhaps most of those found to have those substance in their systems don't have enough to be impairing.

Oh dear, you are the weakest link. Goodbye.

Jeffry, I'm not quite sure what prompted your response here... (perhaps you meant to flag the previous post, from Pseudoscience-is-malarkey, which is somewhat problematic?) The post from conniejmilitello post seems to me to raise some interesting and valid points. I interpreted the post to mean that statistics of drugged driving could potentially suffer from over-reporting due to testing guidelines (in contrast to alcohol measurements, in which the amount of alcohol is quantified, detection of any amount of illicit substance counts as drugged driving, whether or not the levels detected could have impaired the driver--some tests can be extremely sensitive compared to the dosage, or even can be triggered by inactive metabolites days after the last usage).

As to whether people on various drugs are more likely to be on the road, I would imagine that alcohol is very common because so many people drink at restaurants, bars, games, outings, etc. and then drive home. That said, people are dumb, and I am sure that there are plenty out there who take all sorts of drugs and then decide to drive.

[wolfekeeper]

This study seems to suggest that while alcohol tends to make people more reckless leading to accidents, marijuana tends to make people more cautious which compensates for the fact that they're not driving as well:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/

[chiralSPO]

This study seems to suggest that while alcohol tends to make people more reckless leading to accidents, marijuana tends to make people more cautious which compensates for the fact that they're not driving as well:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/

well look at that! a peer reviewed study of the exact question asked. It is a review article that summarizes several dozen different studies, spanning human subject tests, epidemiological studies, dose response etc. It is quite relevant, but I did notice that their Figure 2 is worthy of ridicule: who fits 4 data points to a parabola and reports an R²? Granted, the figure is reproduced from the work of a different author, but the authors of this review opted to reproduce it without commenting on what I would think is a grievous error.

[Zer0]

An Off - Topic thought...

If Self Driving Automated Cars become a compulsion in the far future...
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Then would doing/consuming (Edit - Intoxicating, Hallucinogenic) Drugs Not be considered as a big deal?
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P.S. - God in all Wisdom grew Grass & Gave to All...
Little Fools smoked Alot, Bigger Fools Not Atall!


I ONLY Support Medical Usage.
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