Smoking and driving .. the debate

[El Vexilix]

Me and my girl just got back from the dro store . We had a horrible drive to and back . Couln't even enjoy are high . I'm pretty sure everyone was not under the influence of anything , but they totally drove like it .
Speeding towards a red light cutting ppl off .... not moving to turn right even though the coast is clear and then finally move when opposing traffic has there g light . OOOHHH and texting or any cell usage .
Maybe I'm too much of a real 'driver' , not a commuter , or just a selfish person behind the wheel trying to get from point A to point B . I see 1 mile ahead and 1 mile back and everything in between . Just like everyone should be taking care of everyone out there .

Sorry for the rant . Maybe ppl should check there driving skills .
I should post an amateur auto-cross / time-attack trophy won or the champ certificate from MK tourney . Thank you sativas !!!!
I find just talking to a passenger is really distracting though . All my driving oopsi's have been responsible to talking .

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Cannabis has a tendancy to relax me too much whilst driving......I get into thought mode and I am not as sharp a driver as I am when not stoned, so I prefer driving on coffee....

Thinking back though......I have driven many miles stoned and not had an accident....

 

[CANNACO-OP]

Never had an accident or speeding or any violation cuz of smoking herb....i do not smoke and drive at the same time.....but lifestyle dictates that driving while high is a must.....and i tend to actually be a better driver and more aware if not too high...... Drinking and driving has got to be the worse? Cell phones pretty close to second?

I guess each person is differ also......I smoke everyday vs occasionaly smoker, and what if you smoke and drink, that is bad.....i guess that is why they call it a debate.....oh,...where is the poll?

 

[KnuckleHedd]

Call me an a$$hole, but I believe smoking makes me a safer driver. For years I drove while smoking. Now I never smoke in the car, but I'm usually high anyway. Driving while high on Cannabis I lay back a bit and stay away from those in front of me. I've done it so long it's a habit now. I've seen a lot of accidents happen in front of me that I might have been part of had I been closer. And the little paranoia causes me to look both ways when the light turns green instead od just going ahead. Twice, people have run a red light and would have nailed me had I just moved on when the light changed. I've only had 2 accidents in 43 years of driving. BOTH times I was sitting at a stop light....rear ended once and hit in the front once. Weed makes me more cautious

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I smoke pot every day all day. It is for medical reasons, so unless I fail a sobriety test then I should be able to smoke then drive. Just as people with medication such as depression or pain meds can drive if careful and can pass a sobriety test. I know for sure I would NEVER fail a sobriety test no matter how much pot I smoked, it just wont happen.

People get scared when I'm sober and driving.


I'm extremely careful when changing meds to not drive until I'm aware of how it affects me. I don't drive extended hours while toking up massive amounts of indica. I medicate 24/7 and if I'm driving for over an hour, you can bet I'm medicating during the trip. This is for YOUR safety folks, believe me.

 

[PatInTheHat]

I'd have to be insanely stoned to be a bad driver...
IMO olny people with driving AND smoking experience should, if anyone, drive high.

 

[cashmunny]

Here's the NORML view on this issue. They basically state the effects are mild,and not as bad as alcohol intoxication, but measurable.

"Marijuana has a measurable yet relatively mild effect on psychomotor skills"

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5450


But regardless of how harmless it may be or how harmless you may think it is, you will be arrested if an officer pulls you over and suspects you are intoxicated. And once they do a blood test, you can show all the research you want, you'll still be fucked and have a DUI with all the fines, legal fees, DUI education classes, and high insurance rates that entails. Not to mention that you'll probably get hit with a possession beef too.

So do what you want, just make sure you can handle the consequences, because people get arrested all the time for driving under the influence of cannabis.

 

[h^2 O]

i drive like a 40 year old soccer mom when im high...no more than 5 miles over the speed limit, blinkers, letting people cut in, etc. If im not high it's like Mad Max - I'll try to get people to hit me, I cut people off, go 70 in school zones, you name it.

 

[h^2 O]

Cannabis has a tendancy to relax me too much whilst driving......I get into thought mode and I am not as sharp a driver as I am when not stoned, so I prefer driving on coffee....

Thinking back though......I have driven many miles stoned and not had an accident....

try both - it's called "speed-balling" - smoke bowl/double espresso.

 

[CANNACO-OP]

i drive like a 40 year old soccer mom when im high...no more than 5 miles over the speed limit, blinkers, letting people cut in, etc. If im not high it's like Mad Max - I'll try to get people to hit me, I cut people off, go 70 in school zones, you name it.

must be something in the h^20? huh?

 

[h^2 O]

yeah people can't drive for their life out here. Almost got sideswiped by some crazy bitch in one of those little Lexus suv's....shit's crazy. I just go in a straight line and if people want to crash into me that's fine. My car cost like negative 500 dollars

 

[MrBomDiggitty]

On the containers my medical marijuana comes in there are stickers which warn "be careful while driving" not "do not drive on this medication." I ran that fact by a highway patrol man one time and was let off the hook.

 

[h^2 O]

On the containers my medical marijuana comes in there are stickers which warn "be careful while driving" not "do not drive on this medication." I ran that fact by a highway patrol man one time and was let off the hook.

why'd you get pulled over? Stopping at too many highway fast-food places? Driving a "stoner" car? Being black in a nice car?

 

[ourcee]

well is a prozac patient supposed to not take their anti psych meds before a commute?

what if their skitzo side comes out in traffic and gets the crowbar out of the trunk because some asshole cut him off?

people drive "medicated" on SOMETHING all day every day. You may not be that person, but I promise you at LEAST 1 in 5 cars you see on the freeway, the driver is doing SOMETHING that is detracting from them actually DRIVING (watching the road, gas/brake/negotiating speed and turns/both hands on wheel etc).

I have a family member that has totaled 2 cars before the age of 20, drives like a complete imbecile, and has had more traffic stops that I can honestly count. Whenever I'm in the car, sober or not, I'm honestly scared a little bit that "one of these times" were gonna get clipped or roll going over a buck on the freeway.

I yell and bitch and whatnot, it changes it for a mere few minutes before the speed starts slowly creeping up, the lane changes get a little bit faster.

its fucking bullshit because while driving like this, you are "on edge" the ENTIRE time while driving, not to mention so is every single driver you pass, all while risking an accident MORESO than if you were just going the flow of traffic and being a respectful driver.

thats why I drive stoned a lot. I realize there ISNT a huge rush to save 30 seconds off my commute to 7/11 for another pack of swishers. In fact because I'm a lil "slower" in my rush, I tend to actually RELAX and not even think of driving as a chore or a task thats in the way of me doing something. Just hop in the car, put on some good music and just cruise. This eliminates the risky driving which in turn eliminates any paranoia of accidents around every corner.

Maybe its because I'm in So Cal and 65 really means 85, but driving stoned (given certain tolerances and reactions) I believe can be safer.

 

[cashmunny]

It's funny, the research seems to back up the anecdotal evidence. Alcohol increases risk taking behind the wheel and marijuana decreases it.

But the research is also clear that there is an impairment and it is dose related. Experienced stoners are just capable of compensating.

 

[foo_bird]

awhile back the wife had to go to a safe driving class
she was the only one there not for a DUI and when
MJ and driving came up the instructor said "the worst
problem with driving under the influence of MJ was you
tend to get lost and forget where going and that it was
nowhere near the problem that alcohol is"
the instructor was a state trooper

 

[Lazyman]

90% of the "I got busted" stories start with "Me and my homie were in my car, tokin up, when all of a sudden..."

Yeah, I dont ever want to be the guy that got busted for doing something stupid. I'd rather be the poor guy that gets busted when a plane falls from the sky right on top of my room, odds are better that way.

 

[mean mr.mustard]

There is no debate... I'd choose smoking anyday

 

[h^2 O]

yeah exactly man. i try to do that when i can. It's funny to watch people cutting other people off to get to a red light faster.

 

[ItsAllOver]

It depends...
Only you know your personal answer, and I think that's the truth.
Also, you will never be so high that you don't have enough reason to determine if you are too high to drive. At least I've never noticed that from being high, even really high.
So, the decision to drive is made based on what one thinks at any given time. If you could pass the sobriety tests they might give you, and you don't feel like it's making you sleepy, you're probably good.

My personal plan:
Drive high all day, it's all good, unless I know I'm too high to get in my car, and this is very obvious to me when it's the case, lol. Like people before me have said, moderate ganj smokage before driving tends to make me more cautious and mellow. This is a good thing when behind the wheel on roads with all these other dumb ass drivers!
At night, and when tired at all, I don't drive high. Driving high at night is a big mistake for me. I'm just too likely to space out/nod off/drift (basically just symptoms of tiredness). Therefore, I do not do it.