Ganja & Driving

[DdC]

NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- September 29, 2005
Positive Marijuana Result Not Associated With Auto Crash Culpability
September 29, 2005 - Baltimore, MD, USA
Marijuana use, as indicated by the presence of cannabis metabolites, is not associated with crash culpability among injured drivers, according to data presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21152.shtml

Paranoid Pot Smokers Drive More Carefully (http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16445.shtml)

Alcohol Impairs Driving More Than Marijuana (http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12299.shtml)

Cannabis May Make You a Safer Driver (http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6717.shtml)

U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(DOT HS 808 078), Final Report, November 1993:
"THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small"

Cannabisnews Search Cannabis & Driving (http://www.cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=driving&H=40&T=t)

Cannabis & Driving (http://ganja.com/v4/modules/zmagazine/article.php?articleid=21) by Erowid

While it is widely accepted that cannabis use can slow motor skills and reduce task-attention, increasing in severity with dose, research has shown that cannabis use is less likely to dangerously impair driving abilities than alcohol at similar levels of intoxication. Cannabis intoxication often makes smokers more aware of their impairment, causing them to slow down and become more cautious while also worsening reaction time and attention. Cannabis users often report that driving speeds are experientially 'faster' than normal: driving a given speed feels faster and more dangerous than the same speed does while sober.

There have been a number of studies which have looked at this issue and most have found that cannabis smoking does degrade driving performance. There is a little contradictory evidence about whether cannabis in combination with alcohol causes worse impairment than alcohol alone, but so far the data heavily favors the view that the combination substantially increases risks over either alone.

The research so far does not provide a clear answer to how much risk of accidents increase with moderate levels of cannabis intoxication, but only confirms that the risks of cannabis-alone impairment are lower than those of alcohol-alone impairment. The following are a collection of summaries & papers which look at the issue of cannabis & driving performance.

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Executive Summary of Driving Impairment Effects of Alcohol & Cannabis (1994)

The influence of cannabis on driving, (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_research1.shtml) TRL, Britain (PDF - 1.5MB)
UK Lords Report On Cannabis & Driving (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/uk_lords_report/ToxicEffects.shtml#4.6)
Alcohol impairs driving more than marijuana (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992063) - New Scientist March 2002

"As someone who spent 35 years wearing a police uniform, I've come to believe that hundreds of thousands of law-enforcement officers commit felony perjury every year testifying about drug arrests."
- Joseph McNamara, former San Jose Chief of Police

The Joseph McNamara Collection (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcntoc.htm)

Pot Less Harmful Than Alcohol or Tobacco (http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/20/thread20448.shtml)
Cannabisnews Search alcohol (http://www.cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=alcohol&H=40&T=t)
Alcohol impairs driving more than marijuana (http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2063)

A single glass of wine will impair your driving more than smoking a joint. And under certain test conditions, the complex way alcohol and cannabis combine to affect driving behaviour suggests that someone who has taken both may drive less recklessly than a person who is simply drunk.
New Scientist March 2002

Marijuana Myth: "Marijuana Is A Major Cause Of Highway Accidents" (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_myth12.shtml)

MARIJUANA DOES NOT CAUSE RECKLESS DRIVING (http://tinyurl.com/bb5pq)
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and certain Wisconsin legislators have launched a new crusade against "drugged driving," with a heavy emphasis on marijuana. This crusade is largely based on scientific misinformation, and it could lead to the enactment of bad laws.

US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Reports

Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_driving4.shtml) - by Robbe, NHTSA, 1993
Marijuana Use And Driving (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_driving3.shtml), by Robbe 1994
Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_driving5.shtml) - by Robbe, NHTSA, 1999
Marijuana & Alcohol Combined Increase Impairment (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_driving2.shtml) - NHTSA 1999

"Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate where they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small."
Robbe, NHTSA 1993

Cannabis Campaigner's Guide to Cannabis & Driving (http://www.ccguide.org.uk/driving.html)

Schaffer Library References on Drugs and Driving (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/MISC/driving/contents.htm)

Cannabis And Road Safety: (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/MISC/driving/driving2.htm) An Outline Of The Research Studies To Examine The Effects Of Cannabis On Driving Skills And On Actual Driving Performance

"Professor Hall considers cannabis's contribution to danger on the roads to be very small; in his view the major effect of cannabis use on driving may be in amplifying the impairments caused by alcohol."
UK Lord's Report, 1998

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DUI Law & Cannabis (http://www.dui-california.com/duidrugs.htm)

WhiteHouse's Steer Clear of Pot Campaign (http://www.mediacampaign.org/steerclear/index.html) (2003)

Crancer Study, Washington Department of Motor Vehicles
"Simulated driving scores for subjects experiencing a normal social "high" and
the same subjects under control conditions are not significantly different. However,
there are significantly more errors for alcohol intoxicated than for control subjects"

The Cost Of Alcohol! (http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/2/thread2401.shtml)

Antidrug Ad Blitz Criticized For Omitting Alcohol! (http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/1/thread1619.shtml)

ONDCP has several slick television commercials on the subject. One shows dramatic auto accidents and two crash test dummies passing a joint while a serious voice says, "In a recent study, one in three reckless drivers tested positive for marijuana." Note the careful phrasing. The idea is to make viewers think that marijuana caused the reckless driving, without really saying that it did.
http://tinyurl.com/dnl7e

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[DdC]

Cannabis/Driving Studies Australia: No Proof Cannabis Put Drivers At Risk (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1849/a09.html) (2001)
UK: Cannabis May Make You A Safer Driver (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1161/a02.html) (2000)
University Of Toronto Study Shows Marijuana Not A Factor In Driving Accidents (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases\1999\03\990325110700.htm) (1999)
Australia: Cannabis Crash Risk Less: Study (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n945/a08.html) (1998)
Australia: Study Goes to Pot (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n947/a06.html) (1998)

"We didn't choose to fight this drug war, it chose us.
Now we have to do whatever it takes to fight this evil and change this system.
No more shattered lives!"
- Chris Conrad, author "Shattered Lives"

Marijuana Not a Factor in Driving Accidents (http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin/19990329a.asp) March 29, 1999
The safety hazards of smoking marijuana and driving are overrated, says U of T researcher Alison Smiley.
Recent research into impairment and traffic accident reports from several countries shows that marijuana taken alone in moderate amounts does not significantly increase a driver's risk of causing an accident -- unlike alcohol, says Smiley, an adjunct professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering . While smoking marijuana does impair driving ability, it does not share alcohol's effect on judgment. Drivers on marijuana remain aware of their impairment, prompting them to slow down and drive more cautiously to compensate, she says.

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Despite studies and common sense, (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4187.html)
harsh anti-pot driving laws are becoming commonplace.
Vigilante narcs are out for blood (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4353.html)
Government spies, fences and vigilantes on their way (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4346.html)
Performance testing provides a valid alternative to zero tolerance drugged driving tests. (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4130.html)

"Corruptisma repulica, plurimae leges.
(The more corrupt a republic, the more laws.)"
- Tacitus, "Annals III 27"

Two decades of research show that marijuana use may actually reduce driver accidents. (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4131.html)
Government agencies block med-pot studies (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4088.html)
UK cops are testing for "drugged drivers" despite studies which show stoners drive safely. (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1775.html)
Ontario lawyer driving high, organizing rallies and fighting corruption. (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2660.html)

"The American Medical Association knows of no evidence that marihuana is a dangerous drug."
- Dr. William Woodward of the American Medical Association, in hearings on the 1921 Marihuana Tax Act

Science shows pot makes safer drivers (http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3415.html)
Common marijuana myths disspelled, with sources (http://www.cannabisculture.com/library/misc/myths.html)
Regular medicinal pot user safe to drive while under the influence (http://www.cannabisculture.com/backissues/cc08/smokesignals/licensed.html)
It Was Not the Drug, but the Criminalisation (http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12377.shtml)
Setting Drug Impairment Levels Far Off (http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12374.shtml)

"No Increased Risk" for cannabis/driving (http://www.thc-ministry.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1754&highlight=driving)

We can have justice whenever those who have not been injured by injustice
are as outraged by it as those who have been.
--Solon (594 B.C.)

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/27/2313/1024/BushDrinking.jpg

DUI, Drunk Driving Arrest Consequences (http://www.drunkdrivingdefense.com/consequences/bush-dui.htm)

DUI-DWI Convictions Can Happen to Anyone, Even Our Leaders
By age 40, about 20% of all males in the USA have received a DUI conviction.* Of course, some men have received MORE than their allotted share, such as Vice President Richard (Dick) Cheney.* Here are copies of President Bush’s 1976 DUI in Maine, followed by Cheney’s DUI records of two back-to-back DUI's in Wyoming.

Canada Would Ban Bush — But There Are Loopholes By Rebecca Cooper (ABC News)
W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 3 — Even if George W. Bush is elected president, he may need special permission to get into Canada because of his arrest for drunken driving.

Dick Cheney's Youthful Indiscretions (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/cheney_doc.html)

Bush Jr.'s Skeleton Closet (http://www.realchange.org/bushjr.htm)

Convicted of drunk driving. Lied repeatedly to cover up his arrest. (http://www.realchange.org/bushjr.htm#drunk)

BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS (http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/63426) By JENNIFER LUCE and DON GENTILE
Faced with the biggest crisis of his political life, President Bush has hit the bottle again, The National Enquirer can reveal. Bush, who said he quit drinking the morning after his 40th birthday, has started boozing amid the Katrina catastrophe. Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.

Bushwhacked: Jenna Bush's drinking incident (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,499446,00.html)
The president's twin daughters have been caught trying to buy beer using fake ID. But, asks Katie Roiphe, what's all the fuss about? They're just teenagers bringing a touch of colour to the White House

D.E.A.th Deceptions (http://www.angelfire.com/ca7/ddc/DEAth.html)

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[mellow]

awesome.

Yeah I quite enjoy driving high, very relaxing.

I also find im much much more cautious and courteous on the road when I'm baked.
(for the record im talking about just a half to one bowl relaxed mellow high, not a 5 bowl stoned out of your mind high)

[paulfreespirit]

yeah man....... eyes in the back side and front of me head .............i like drivin in my car ..........its not quite a jaguar .....la

[WhisperingWoods]

I'm afraid to drive high, but I've only been driving licensed & by myself for a few months now.

Last night I had an opportunity to get high and drive home afterwards, but I chose to wait on getting baked until I knew I could stay at my buddy's house for the night. Seems like a good decision but we ended up getting drunk too, and everyone threw up multiple times that night. First time I've ever thrown up alcohol. And the last. :)

fuck that shit, weed and drinking doesnt mix.

[openmindedlunchbox]

so what do you think would be a good cut off for smoking if you want to drive?

[TopNotchStoner]

^^^4 blunts.

[theshaman]

Different people have different highs, and have different levels of driving. I drive high all the time, but if I feel I can't drive normal, then I don't drive. Hell, sometimes I drive better high than sober. Wait until you are experienced at both driving and smoking before trying both. When you're driving with friends and smoking, everybody drives. Mention that there's a red light/stop sign up ahead. Be on the lookout for cops. It's something that everyone in the car should be involved with.

[rangerdanger]

First off, a thousand thanks to DdC for another excellent post.

I don't think people should drive, operate heavy machinery, etc when stoned on pot.
Personal experiences:
-Not being 100% sure of which pedals were clutch, brake and gas.
-Missing the intended off-ramp, doubling back, missing it a 2nd time.
-Passing a joint in a car with a friend, forgot where we were, where we were going, and why we were going someplace.
-Turning the oven on and forgetting--til the next day, that I had turned it on.

Ask yourself this question: If you saw the pilot & co-pilot of a plane you were boarding hitting a bong and obviously high, would it make you feel more or less safe?

[fluffhead552]

[QUOTE=

fuck that shit, weed and drinking doesnt mix.[/QUOTE]


well sure it does....its synergistic effects.. use less of each substance and more krunked...great great thing..lol

[hippin life]

i try not to do it but i feel pretty safe when i do because i have never exceeded the speed limit while stoked and i slow down alot earlier cause the car seems to be moving faster than it actually is, however i wont recommend it because highs affect many people differently

[Colours]

Have you ever driven somewhere stoned where you had to turn onto a a highway or major road? Its so fuckin scary watching all the cars come and thinking "man in a second im going to have to be on that road driving with all those fast moving cars". its just a scary experience

[WhisperingWoods]

Ok, I got baked with friends, watched saw2 and drove myself and a friend to ponderosa to meet everyone else there.. actually we followed the other dude's car. It was ok, I felt able to drive and I was more than able. Just a little nervous at first, but I'm very cool and cautious stoned.

The movie was fucking trippy though.

[Colours]

errr i think that movie would be incredibly disturbing high.
i was wathcing animal planet last night, and they showed this giant bug that looked like a cricket with real long arms catch a small lizard and just bite into its head and devour it. Its so fuckin barbaric watching a bug eat a reptile, cause bugs show no emotion and its like watching a machine tear into an animal. It seemed so fuckin violent, i couldnt stop thinking about it for minutes (which is pretty terrible considering my train of thought usually only last around 15 seconds :D )

[WhisperingWoods]

errr i think that movie would be incredibly disturbing high.
i was wathcing animal planet last night, and they showed this giant bug that looked like a cricket with real long arms catch a small lizard and just bite into its head and devour it. Its so fuckin barbaric watching a bug eat a reptile, cause bugs show no emotion and its like watching a machine tear into an animal. It seemed so fuckin violent, i couldnt stop thinking about it for minutes (which is pretty terrible considering my train of thought usually only last around 15 seconds :D )
Yeah, it was so intense! It's like watching the movie normally but you literally feel twice the emotion.

[darksideofthemoon]

Ask yourself this question: If you saw the pilot & co-pilot of a plane you were boarding hitting a bong and obviously high, would it make you feel more or less safe?
again.... depends if im in on the rotation

[happyonehit420]

I've actually found that I drive just as good stoned when I'm sober. I love driving high, everything just feels so surreal, I love it. As for that huge bug eating a reptile, what an insightful comparison, Colours. I never would've compared a bug eating to a machine. That makes perfect sense! They really do look like machines just doing what they're programmed.