The effects of Marijuana and Driving

[RetroGrow]

One of the backup QBs for the N.Y. Jets just came out and admitted that he has been stoned since he was 13, and never took the field without being smashed. He used booze, cannabis, percodans (26 per day), and whatever else he could get his hands on. He has played impaired his entire life, and still made it to the pros. His name is Eric Ainge, son of former basketball star Danny Ainge.

 

[RudolfTheRed]

i had been smoking very high quality weed today and hash for about 4-5 hours before i decided to drive to the store and bank. while driving i went through a 4-way intersection at a smooth 35 mph. (the speed limit) and had the green light for a while. i could see it coming down the hill. i was paying attention and had an intuition someone was not going to see me coming and was going to try and turn left, and low and behold this girl is tailing another car too close and not paying attention and almost hits me. if i didn't slow down the other person would have hit me too. i slammed my breaks on and missed the girl by a good ten feet. again - i had been smoking all day.

to top it off this happened in front of a state trooper stuck at the red light. he was stuck between traffic so he couldn't do a god damn thing, however he saw me turn into the bank, and turned around. came and talked to me and said nothing i did was my fault, and he would of followed the car, but by the time he turned around and chased them down the would of been gone. which was the truth. i saw him sitting there after the accident almost happened.

whoever says you can't be stoned and drive is fucking stupid. i've been doing it for decades and have never been in an accident. i worked with heavy machinery on construction sites and never once seriously injured myself. i would climb hundreds of feet in the air no problem. i can actually slow down my brain and concentrate while stoned.

cannabis effects everyone different. some of you people sound like your from an anti-drug ad or something. you guys sound like that one commercial where the guys are pulling away from the fast food joint while smoking and run into the girl on her bike. quit with the bullshit scare tactics that aren't true.

again - been smoking for decades and driving no problem. i don't smoke while driving but i will smoke RIGHT before. that's good enough proof for me. fuck your untrue government/private campaign funded "facts" or "stats".

 

[Duplicate]

whoever says you can't be stoned and drive is fucking stupid.

cannabis effects everyone different.

Does not compute. I agree with you as my experience has been much the same as yours though I can't think of a situation where I would ever explicitly condone driving under the influence; much less tell someone they are "fucking stupid" for not being able to drive while stoned.

 

[H^2o2]

i have a really hard time judging distances when im driving high at night, i'll brake too early or something. i'm near sighted? I can read fine but can't read stuff from far away.
I don't drink
I like to smoke and drive around Boston.

 

[jrockondamic]

i had been smoking very high quality weed today and hash for about 4-5 hours before i decided to drive to the store and bank. while driving i went through a 4-way intersection at a smooth 35 mph. (the speed limit) and had the green light for a while. i could see it coming down the hill. i was paying attention and had an intuition someone was not going to see me coming and was going to try and turn left, and low and behold this girl is tailing another car too close and not paying attention and almost hits me. if i didn't slow down the other person would have hit me too. i slammed my breaks on and missed the girl by a good ten feet. again - i had been smoking all day.

to top it off this happened in front of a state trooper stuck at the red light. he was stuck between traffic so he couldn't do a god damn thing, however he saw me turn into the bank, and turned around. came and talked to me and said nothing i did was my fault, and he would of followed the car, but by the time he turned around and chased them down the would of been gone. which was the truth. i saw him sitting there after the accident almost happened.

whoever says you can't be stoned and drive is fucking stupid. i've been doing it for decades and have never been in an accident. i worked with heavy machinery on construction sites and never once seriously injured myself. i would climb hundreds of feet in the air no problem. i can actually slow down my brain and concentrate while stoned.

cannabis effects everyone different. some of you people sound like your from an anti-drug ad or something. you guys sound like that one commercial where the guys are pulling away from the fast food joint while smoking and run into the girl on her bike. quit with the bullshit scare tactics that aren't true.

again - been smoking for decades and driving no problem. i don't smoke while driving but i will smoke RIGHT before. that's good enough proof for me. fuck your untrue government/private campaign funded "facts" or "stats".

Why write a small novel when you have no desire to think about this issue beyond the uber-serious "anyone who disagrees with me is a fucking idiot?" Complete with zero substantive defense of your position.

It's not even that your argument is just bad. You didn't even make an argument, really. Just a small novel and a claim.

 

[In~Plain~Site]

'Who the fuck keeps letting you out of the basement?' for 400 hundred, Alex.

i have a really hard time judging distances when im driving high at night, i'll brake too early or something. i'm near sighted? I can read fine but can't read stuff from far away.
I don't drink
I like to smoke and drive around Boston.

 

[ZoSo]

I like to smoke and drive around Boston.

lol I would get fucking lost in no time.

 

[JJScorpio]

I don't think driving while high is going to necessarily cause an accident. But I try to avoid it. For the simple purpose that I know I tend to think alot when I'm high. And I'd do this while driving and might get distracted at the wrong time. If I'm driving and were to get wrapped up in an accident where someone were hurt bad or killed, I'd rather not deal with wondering if I would have reacted differently if I hadn't been smoking..... I guess I feel that I don't own the roads and I don't have the right to make that decision for other drivers....

Might also depend on how good the bud is that you're smoking. I have some kinds of bud that if you think you're going to burn a joint and not feel impaired then you're nuts....

 

[Ashley11]

I smoke all the time and I have a perfect driving record. I have never had a car accident - not even a parking ticket. Alcohol and prescription drugs create more of a risk for impairment than marijuana, by far. As a pre-pharmacy student, I hate prescription drugs. I see people every day begging to sell them $20 worth of oxycodone, percocet, vicodin, whatever - "just a few to get me by til I see my Dr.". Then they send their kid or their friend begging for some. Old grandma-type ladies flipping out because insurance won't cover there pain meds because they are refilling early. And how about all the kids out there buying packs and packs of coricidin hbp - the new cool trip. These are the people that are out there driving and are a bigger problem.

 

[THC123]

i only smoke when making long trips like 600-1500 kilometers


i always smoke frisian dew then , it gets me high but i am still focused and all my motor skills keep functioning

just takes the monotony away

 

[Ashley11]

I smoke for any length of trip - gym, grocery store, work, school. I do not function well if I have not smoked. I usually just feel like ramming people with my car.

 

[Ashley11]

...but road trips are fun.

 

[THC123]

I smoke for any length of trip - gym, grocery store, work, school.

lol what is the point of going to the gym when you are smoking on the way to the gym? it's like throwing your workout away

 

[Ashley11]

oh no...it makes it much more relaxing. To just run or get on the elliptical and listen to music and just space out. If I am not stoned I would be thinking about other things I could be doing or something. Now, if I had a couple of cocktails before going to the gym - that would be throwing a workout away. And I would be drinking and driving.

 

[CARE giver]

abuse is simply over use.

According to your logic you can drink 4 beers and as long as you are used to drinking 4 beers you are fine. That is Bullshit. Being intoxicated is being intoxicated. That is why we smoke the stuff, and the same reason you shouldn't drive on it.

I think you might have an abuse problem or maybe just a learning disability. At any rate clearly you don't process information very well.

You are not superman. If you get high, then by definition you are impaired and so are all of your actions including driving. Unless you knowing "when to say when with your meds" is knowing when you'll be sober enough to drive then you are not driving impaired. If you are driving impaired then clearly you don't know when to say when with your meds because your endangering other drivers and don't even know it.

Its not a question of age, or how seasoned you think you are. When you are high you are high and shouldn't be endangering other peoples lives with with your personal decisions.

Motaco there's a difference between smoking a blunt of OG Kush and taking a few hits of a clear sativa. I feel no imparenment whats so ever with my driving skills. I just have to focus a little, which is a good thing, and I drive better than 99% of the sober idiots on the road.

 

[Hydrosun]

Motaco there's a difference between smoking a blunt of OG Kush and taking a few hits of a clear sativa. I feel no imparenment whats so ever with my driving skills. I just have to focus a little, which is a good thing, and I drive better than 99% of the sober idiots on the road.

So you are cool if you smoke sativa but if you kush it up you are a threat to the safety of the public?

 

[igrowone]

So you are cool if you smoke sativa but if you kush it up you are a threat to the safety of the public?

this is a tough sell, even for many here
the way i see it, so many have various pharmaceuticals running through the veins, many drivers have some chemical impairment
so if you can pass a sobriety field test that is based upon your mental/physical reactions to coordination/decision tests, then you're in the 'A' group of drivers

 

[H^2o2]

lol what is the point of going to the gym when you are smoking on the way to the gym? it's like throwing your workout away

you've never smoked RIGHT before working out? It gives you superhuman powers for like 10 minutes.

 

[whiteberrieS]

Don't QWISO and drive.

 

[greygary]

my $.02

my $.02

While I no longer drive under the influence, I have in my younger and dumber days driven under the influence of both marijuana and alcohol, separately and together.

As a motorcyclist, I am always more aware of my surroundings on the road as a necessity, because I lost a friend in an avoidable accident when he wasn't aware and was hit by a city bus. I have avoided many accidents where people were not paying attention simply by being aware of their driving, what they're doing in their car, and my surroundings so I could get out of their stupid ass way.

My 2 accidents in my life have been sober and unavoidable, and importantly, not my fault. 1 was a T-bone where I was blocked in and he blew a red light. I saw him coming and laid on my horn and brakes, allowing him to alert and slam on his brakes, but the idiot swerved 2 lanes to the left into my stopped car in the intersection, disabling my car, and he ran like a POS. The other I was hit from behind by a street racing civic that crossed 3 lanes into my bumper while i was driving 75mph, causing me to lose control and roll my truck.

I consider myself an above average driver, but the studies show that 90% or so see themselves as being in the top 25% so I'll leave you to figure those numbers out...

As to the DUIC/DUI-Alc:

Together: I drove to the end of the street and promptly turned around when under the influence of both together, it was just too much for me, and I had only taken 2 quick hits and a game of beer pong. My speed was inconsistent and my steering was uber-sloppy.

DUI-Alc: I drank for a couple of hours at the bar with some friends and drove home. Only once, then I became an at-home drinker. It was more the risk of being pulled over than anything, as I was young and dumb, but I was clearly inebriated and had no business being behind the wheel. My side view mirrors were angled down to keep me in the lines, which helped because it was a fucking feat just to do that. And god bless the inventor of the cruise control.

DUIC: I have driven cross country while chain smoking joints. I have driven/ridden close to 100k miles while "under the influence" of marijuana. I have NEVER had an accident while high, I have been pulled over once while DUIC, and the officer admitted it was because I was the only car on the freeway at 2:30am and was going 68 in a 65. Obviously he was trying to get an easy DUI collar from the college bars nearby. I got let off with a speeding warning because talking with him and the 2nd officer who came upon us for a couple minutes apparently didn't raise any red flags as I was in a shirt and tie headed into work and didn't smell like weed, had clear eyes, was coherent and able to converse freely. We talked about my work, schooling, how their jobs are working nights alone, etc, while waiting for my records to run. And yes I was high including the star-effect on lights, increased auditory perception, cottonmouth, etc.

That said, there has been some smoke that I wouldn't even consider getting anything out of my car under the influence of because a cop driving by can get you for DUI here just for being in possession of car keys in a car, doesn't have to be on, don't even have to be in the car, just in the proximity of the car. It was stupefying and the mental fog was thick enough to cut. I couldn't string a sentence together, let alone 2.

Yet I feel that my worst day of driving under the influence of cannabis is still better than a lot of the presumably sober drivers around these parts. Blue-hairs and soccer moms, people talking to passengers or on their GD cell phones, assholes eating and fashionistas troweling on their make-up. They are all dangerous and oblivious to it. Totally fucking oblivious.


At least a pot smoker is (typically) aware of the increased risks and takes actions to mitigate said risks like obeying the speed limits and traffic signage with greater attention to detail than most do the 10 commandments. Paying attention to traffic patterns and driving habits of others is essential to survival, sober or not, but DUIC people have more reason to pay attention.

Rule 3 for staying free: Never break more than one law at a time. (Rules 1&2 being TELL NOBODY and ADMIT NOTHING)


Every stoner driver that I have ever known has used their Visine, washed their face and hands, lotioned them, gotten gum and a beverage for the road (usually with a straw so you don't take eyes off road for a second), brushed their teeth when possible, febreezed their clothes and bags, and checked themselves over in the mirror and preferably with a human to make sure they look/smell okay before they walk to their car, and if they don't, they chill for a bit longer. Feeling good about your mental state is essential to driving well, so it is worth it to eliminate that nagging issue from your mind and allowing you to focus on the matter at hand, safe driving. (also goes for standard shit, like breakups, being fired, fighting with family, etc)

All that for the just in case situation of someone else fucking up and hitting you or a BS traffic stop or some other unknown-unknown.

When smoking while driving I always had cigarettes or cigars to burn right afterwards and always did, unless I had to smoke multiple joints to get right, at which point I did once I was. And I was ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS aware before hand of what effects the strain had on me. The road is not the place to experiment with dosages. I am not above ashing a cigar onto my chest and lap to explain red eyes and an alleged jerk of the wheel that Barney Fife may or may not have truthfully seen, but I am also not above pulling over and sleeping off a buzz if my spidey sense goes off or I feel a heavier than usual effect coming on.

And I never hit the bong, bubbler, spoon, or sneak-a-toke while driving, because really, smoking out of your "stealthy" cigarette lighter S-a-T is not as stealthy as you think. Just ask Amanda Bynes.

Damn that quick reply got lengthy right quick. And I'm sure I'll get some hate for admitting what I do and "justifying" my actions but fuck em.

I guess my point is you can only minimize dangers, never eliminate them, as anything in life comes with risk, it's just a matter of making sure it is an acceptable level. If you need a completely safe existence you shouldn't be outside your padded room and on the road in the first place, because man is not designed to decelerate from 65 to 0 in less than a second.