Cannabis-affected drivers more common than drunks: research

[Bren]

Bloody stoners...

Driving under the influence of cannabis is more common and riskier than drink driving, according to new research from Otago University.

The latest paper from the long-running Health and Development study clearly showed that for young adults there was a greater risk of driving under the influence of cannabis than alcohol, and that the results were more harmful.

Full article here

[Zuki Bandit]

Not that I agree with doing either of these, but how the hell is being stoned at the wheel more dangerous than being drunk at the wheel?
Im sure that being stoned and holding up a bit of traffic has got to be less dangerous than an over confident drunk that cant judge distance and has fuck all reaction time.

But oh well, I guess they did the research.

[DMNTD:Me]

"The research also found that while driving under the influence of cannabis there was an increased risk of minor car accidents, while the same was not true for drink driving."

Too true...drive drunk and there's an increased risk of causing MAJOR car accidents!

[merv]

Risk being a combination of likelihood and consequence, here lies the problem it would seem there are far more people under the influence of drugs these days therefore the likelihood has grown alarmingly and the shit stays in their systems for longer and the consequences are high if a car hits a bike for instance. Do you really trust a druggy driving towards you on the road?

How many "the car crossed the centreline" crashes have had a drug influence? I suspect too many to be acceptable. So is it driver incompetence or are they under the influence when really dumb stuff happens?

The sooner some of this research results in positive action to rid our roads of those under the influence the better in my view. Likewise in the workplace especially in safety critical tasks.

[Unit:Me]

What about those under the infulence of prescription drugs? I know when I have to take any, they can make me really lala. If Ive had a sleepy help pill, I have to stay off my bike and out of my car the next day. Yet this new propsed law will allow me to legally get behind the wheel?
I make the choice to ban myself from being in charge of either vehicle. Even last Sunday when I had planned an awesome birthday ride, I stayed off my bike cause Id had way too much to drink the night before, and I knew I would not be safe.
I think that people know when they get behind the wheel they shouldnt be there, oh, exept for drunks maybe, who at that point in time cant reason anything at all. At least the stoned one will sit there for two hours staring at their keys before making a move, then they are incline to drive REALLY REALLY sloooowwww...

[Mikkel]

Well, we could start adding people who are too tired to drive - they got a reduced reaction time as well as being less observant. Oh, and they might fall asleep.

How about people texting while driving swerving all over the place?

Or how about the people who are simply just too plain stupid to should be allowed on the road in the first place...

Anyway, cannabis will leave your system much slower than alcohol - so if you smoke on a regular basis your "baseline" will go up. That being said, it has to go up quite a bit before it'll have an impact on your driving ability - however you will still test positive in a urine or bloodtest. This is part of the discussion which is rarely touched upon - if you drive under the influence a lot you will not be as badly affected. I'd rather share the road with a 50 year old longtime alcoholic driving home drunk than with a 50 year old who's had a bottle of wine too much at a friends place but the agaist his/her better judgement decides to drive home because it's only 10 kms...

[Unit:Me]

Yep your right, there are a lot of reasons why people should not get behind the wheel, or on their bikes. At the end of the day (I know, the sun goes down) it comes down to personal integrity and responsibility when we choose to be in charge of a vehicle on shared public roads.

[Goblin]

What about those under the infulence of prescription drugs?

Yeah! There's HEAPS of people on prescription drugs on our roads. What about the bi polar or manic people who DONT take their meds?? Should they be allowed to drive too?

I get pissed off when people get drunk, then smoke drugs, spin out and loose the plot and blame it on the pot. Like it had nothing to do with being pissed in the first place.

I have never seen anyone cause a crash, drive dangerously or get violent while stoned on pot alone yet pot is blamed for everything.

[canarlee]

as a "stoner" as you lot like to call it, how about this perspective. i have driven and ridden while drunk (i knew at the times it was bad but i still did it) and yes, it has affected my judgement/ability. however, i will quite happily get in my car and drive whilst "stoned" and be happy in the knowledge that it doesnt really affect my driving, i wont get on a bike whilst "stoned" though because it does seem to affect my riding ability.



what gives with that???


while i admit both are wrong, it is down to individual choices. are you all that pure and innocent?

[Ewan Oozarmy]

as a "stoner" as you lot like to call it, how about this perspective. i have driven and ridden while drunk (i knew at the times it was bad but i still did it) and yes, it has affected my judgement/ability. however, i will quite happily get in my car and drive whilst "stoned" and be happy in the knowledge that it doesnt really affect my driving, i wont get on a bike whilst "stoned" though because it does seem to affect my riding ability.



what gives with that???


while i admit both are wrong, it is down to individual choices. are you all that pure and innocent?

I remember an episode of 5th Gear where they tested a driver reactions "straight" and then "stoned" and his ability was no worse after smoking a joint.

Your "stressed" soccer mom doing the school run after swallowing 20mgs of diazipan whilst texting her shrink is far more of a liability.

Also, how do you prove someone is stoned when the THC in your blood post smoking a joint can remain for 3 weeks.

I'm not condoning driving stoned but there are far more dangerous "legal" states in which people drive.

[Mikkel]

But is it actually illegal yet? I mean atm noone would ever smoke pot since it's illegal and thus we don't need any limits for it... or some other nonsense like that.

And why even smoke it... it's bad for your lungs. No no - brownies (they're only bad for your waistline)

"They say that marihuana leads to other drugs, it leads to fucking carpentry that's what!
That's why I stopped doing pot in the first place, not because I was afraid I might get addicted but because I didn't wanna build anything..." (recited from memory might be incorrect - still a bloody good rant though)

[pritch]

Ummm not having any personal experience in these matters I can only offer second-hand information.

The quoted research is different from how I understood the situation to be.
As little as one drink can affect your balance. Both the Honda and BMW owner's handbooks state this (I don't know what the other manufacturers say - I haven't bought one of theirs). Then comes overconfidence, followed by lack of co-ordination and eventual unconsciousness. Or something like that...

It was always my understanding that you could tell a cannabis user at the wheel. That's the car that's exactly in the right place in the lane, with a perfect hand signal indicating the turn, 200 yards before the corner, and doing all of 15kph.

I know which seems the bigger threat to me. Then though I guess there's those who mix things...

There's also P, and I don't even want to think about that. Although it would explain some of the idiot aggression we encounter while filtering etc.

[Mikkel]

Another thing - I've never heard of anything like an angry stoner... The worst that can happen with pot is that you get paranoid and jumps in front of a truck after having pulled out all your teeth with a set of thongs because the thought police could hear what you were thinking because they had installed microphones in your teeth...

Actually I guess it could be quite fun to see a fistfight between two stoned out guys.

[BuFfY]

Mmm we were discussing this in mental health the other day, I watched the episode. We were talking about how when the emphasis goes onto, say drunk driving, and they have a major push toward stopping people from doing it, that there is a rise in another form of the similar. In this case, weed.
The lady on the show was just so sad at what she had done. People don't realise when they do things like this that it does in fact have an impact on the wider world. Some are lucky and get away with it, but others hurt or kill someone else. Is it worth it? uh... no!!

[Bren]

Having previously being a "stoner" I can say that I dont feel safe driving stoned....and the post about being paranoid is spot on.....Riding stoned is one thing but being a stoned pillion is another...bloody freaky!

Sorry guys, but I believe you can smoke all ya want at home....but stay off the roads for a while....