One of the frequent arguments we hear from opponents of cannabis legalization is that cannabis usage has resulted in a spike in deaths and serious accidents, in places that have legalized cannabis. Quite often when a person dies in a fatal accident, if cannabis is found on the person or in their blood, it is immediately put in the spotlight. Most investigators and media conclude that cannabis is the root cause for the accident. This deliberate, or knee-jerk reaction, pinning the crime on cannabis has been done so many times, and in so many places, that it has become widely accepted. What is ignored, in many cases, is that there is hardly any differentiation between alcohol and drugs among investigators, and even in the case of drugs, what other drugs, besides cannabis, the individual may have consumed.
It is only recently that road safety associations, and traffic management agencies, have started coming out with public statements that cannabis could be just one of the likely causes. Other causes which may have as much, or more, involvement in the fatal accident are prescription drugs or sedatives that the victim may have consumed, driver fatigue, mechanical issues with the vehicle, increasingly powerful motor vehicles, overcrowding of roads, over speeding, disregarding safety measures like seat-belts and helmets, or distractions from increasingly newer and sophisticated technologies, such as smartphones and onboard interactive devices and screens.
Some studies have reported that fatal accidents have spiked on 20th April every year, a day unofficially celebrated as Cannabis Day in many places, as compared to accidents on other days. This has lead to many people concluding that cannabis must be the cause. On further investigation, it has been found that these spikes in fatal accidents occur on nearly every major public holiday be it Christmas, New Year or Easter and not just on 4/20.
With cannabis legal for medical or/and recreational use in many places, traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are likely to be found in many more individuals, since it can be detected days after consumption. Using devices that test blood for cannabis levels in drivers is flawed due to this. If testing of drivers for cannabis usage needs to be done, one of the sanest recommendations has been to test for impairment, rather than THC levels in blood. But then all tests for driving under influence should be tests for impairment, rather than testing for particular substances. For one thing, a person is likely to be impaired by a number of substances, not just alcohol and cannabis. It could be prescription medicine, old age, methamphetamine or overwork. On the other hand, different people get impaired by different amounts of a given substance. So one person with a certain amount of alcohol or cannabis in his blood stream may be less impaired than another person with lesser quantities of alcohol and cannabis in their blood streams. Also for a regular user of cannabis, whether for medical or recreational purposes, its effects are less likely to cause impairment than for a first time user. Even for a first time user, any disorienting effects of cannabis usually quickly taper off within an hour, unlike alcohol. All said and done, studies point to alcohol's involvement in most road fatalities. The UNODC World Drug Report 2020 states that in Colorado and Washington States, where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use, in most cases of fatalities, poly-drug use was involved, and in particular, alcohol.
As most cannabis users will say, consumption of the plant makes the user
more aware, more relaxed and more careful. This results in a slowing
down and increased watchfulness while on the road rather than speeding
up, reckless, anxious driving or driving fueled by anger, effects that
are common to alcohol and usage of stimulants including certain prescription medication, cocaine and amphetamines.With regards to the immediate effects of cannabis consumption, the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1895 reports this - '485. Judging from the replies of several witnesses, the immediate
effect of the moderate use of any of the hemp drugs on the habitual
consumer is refreshing and stimulating, and alleviates fatigue, giving
rise to pleasurable sensations all over the nervous system, so that the
consumer is "at peace with everybody"—in a grand waking dream. He is
able to concentrate his thoughts on one subject: it affords him
pleasure, vigour, ready wit, capacity for hard work, and sharpness for
business; it has a quieting effect on the nervous system, and removes
restlessness and induces forgetfulness of mental troubles;... Regarding the question of
intoxication, witnesses speak of exhilaration and slightly dizzy
sensation; a little intoxication, but no stupefaction; a feeling of
"briskness" followed by sinking, but no stupefaction;'
Till the day cannabis is legalized and normalized globally, we are likely to keep hearing the argument, from various quarters, that cannabis should be prohibited because it affects driving. These people continue to look for arguments to justify their illogical stand, forgetting the infinite benefits of legalizing the plant, and the terrible harms that have come through its prohibition. Most of the world's (I estimate over 75%) cannabis smokers are among its poorest people or indigenous persons or the sick and elderly. Driving any sort of vehicle would be beyond their means, and the last thing on their mind. Using the 'cannabis causes driving fatalities' argument to try and keep cannabis banned is a classic example of the total lack of understanding of the situation by the world's elite, who cannot see that vast world that exists beyond their bubble of comfort, and their insatiable pursuit of monetary wealth.
Related articles
Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.'Subjects display few changes in simulated driving performance following the ingestion of THC-infused edible products, according to data published in the Journal of Cannabis Research.
Investigators affiliated with the University of Toronto assessed simulated driving behavior in 22 subjects prior to and following the ingestion of THC-infused edibles. Edibles contained, on average, 7.3 mg of THC. Subjects’ driving performance was assessed at two, four, and six hours. Study participants were primarily “frequent users of cannabis for recreational purposes.”
Researchers reported: “Compared to [baseline], cannabis edibles produced a decrease in mean speed 2 hours after consumption. … No changes in standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP; ‘weaving’), maximum speed, standard deviation of speed or reaction time were found at any time point.” Some participants expressed a lesser willingness to drive following cannabis ingestion'
https://norml.org/news/2024/06/06/study-frequent-cannabis-consumers-exhibit-no-significant-changes-in-driving-performance-following-use-of-thc-infused-edibles/
The presence of THC in blood is not predictive of detriments in psychomotor performance, according to driving simulator data published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Toronto assessed subjects’ simulated driving performance at baseline and then again 30 and 180 minutes after smoking cannabis. Participants were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and smoked cannabis (mean THC potency: 19 percent) ad libitum prior to driving.
Subjects exhibited “small changes in SDLP [weaving]” 30 minutes after cannabis inhalation. Investigators described these changes as less pronounced than those associated with drivers with a BAC below 0.05 percent.
Consistent with the results of prior studies, participants decreased their speed after smoking and were more likely to self-assess their performance as “impaired.” Cannabis use did not impact participants’ reaction times.
Subjects’ simulated driving performance returned to baseline within three hours.
The study’s authors concluded: “The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between cannabis and driving and blood THC levels in older adults. … There was no correlation between blood THC concentration and SDLP [standard deviation in lateral positioning] or MS [mean speed]. … The lack of correlation between driving and blood THC fits within emerging evidence that there is not a linear relationship between the two.”
https://norml.org/news/2024/01/25/study-thc-blood-levels-not-correlated-with-changes-in-driving-performance/
Currently, 41 percent of all US truck drivers reside in a jurisdiction where the adult use of marijuana is legal.
Federal law mandates that commercially licensed drivers be subject to both pre-employment and random marijuana urinalysis testing, which detects the presence of the inert carboxy-THC metabolite. This non-psychoactive metabolite can be detectable in subjects’ urine for weeks or even months following past exposure, long after any potential effects have worn off.
According to data published this summer in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, employees who consume cannabis during their off-hours possess no greater risk of occupational injury than do those who abstain from marijuana altogether.
Since 2020, over 100,000 truck drivers have tested positive for past exposure to marijuana. The majority of those positive tests came via pre-employment screening. Those who fail random tests are required to enter a ‘return to work’ program, which includes passing a drug test, in order to have their license reinstated. However, only about one-quarter of those with drug test failures have done so — resulting in driver shortages and supply chain issues.
The survey’s authors acknowledged that existing federal testing regulations are contributing to significant numbers of truck drivers leaving the industry while also dissuading new workers from entering it.
They concluded: “The federal prohibition of marijuana use by CDL holders has been highlighted as a potential disincentive for drivers to stay in the industry. … Marijuana [also] contributes to a higher percentage of positive drug tests in the pre-employment category than in the overall testing data – on average 71.1 percent of positive drug tests are positive for marijuana. Therefore, past use of marijuana – which may have been up to 30 days prior to the test – is filtering out a significant number of potential truck drivers from the industry.”
https://norml.org/blog/2023/10/10/survey-most-truck-drivers-and-their-carriers-favor-changes-in-federal-marijuana-testing-rules/
Trained police officers are frequently unable to discriminate between those who are under the influence of THC and those who are not based upon subjects’ performance on field sobriety tests, according to data published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Researchers affiliated with the University of California at San Diego performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial to evaluate whether the use of field sobriety tests (FSTs) are valid measurements for determining if drivers are under the influence of THC.
Consistent with prior analyses, police officers frequently misinterpreted subjects’ FST performance so that they deemed unimpaired participants (those who had smoked placebo cigarettes) to be under the influence. Overall, officers incorrectly classified 49.2 percent of the placebo group as impaired based upon their FST performance.
Investigators concluded, “The findings of this study suggest that (1) FSTs are useful adjuncts but do not provide strong objective evidence of THC-specific impairment and (2) additional efforts to validate existing methods and provide law enforcement with new, effective tools for identifying impairment are needed.”
https://norml.org/news/2023/08/10/study-police-unable-to-accurately-determine-thc-induced-impairment-via-field-sobriety-tests/
Investigators affiliated with the University of Toronto assessed simulated driving behavior in 22 subjects prior to and following the ingestion of THC-infused edibles. Edibles contained, on average, 7.3 mg of THC. Subjects’ driving performance was assessed at two, four, and six hours. Study participants were primarily “frequent users of cannabis for recreational purposes.”
Researchers reported: “Compared to [baseline], cannabis edibles produced a decrease in mean speed 2 hours after consumption. … No changes in standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP; ‘weaving’), maximum speed, standard deviation of speed or reaction time were found at any time point.” Some participants expressed a lesser willingness to drive following cannabis ingestion'
https://norml.org/news/2024/06/06/study-frequent-cannabis-consumers-exhibit-no-significant-changes-in-driving-performance-following-use-of-thc-infused-edibles/
The presence of THC in blood is not predictive of detriments in psychomotor performance, according to driving simulator data published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Toronto assessed subjects’ simulated driving performance at baseline and then again 30 and 180 minutes after smoking cannabis. Participants were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and smoked cannabis (mean THC potency: 19 percent) ad libitum prior to driving.
Subjects exhibited “small changes in SDLP [weaving]” 30 minutes after cannabis inhalation. Investigators described these changes as less pronounced than those associated with drivers with a BAC below 0.05 percent.
Consistent with the results of prior studies, participants decreased their speed after smoking and were more likely to self-assess their performance as “impaired.” Cannabis use did not impact participants’ reaction times.
Subjects’ simulated driving performance returned to baseline within three hours.
The study’s authors concluded: “The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between cannabis and driving and blood THC levels in older adults. … There was no correlation between blood THC concentration and SDLP [standard deviation in lateral positioning] or MS [mean speed]. … The lack of correlation between driving and blood THC fits within emerging evidence that there is not a linear relationship between the two.”
https://norml.org/news/2024/01/25/study-thc-blood-levels-not-correlated-with-changes-in-driving-performance/
Currently, 41 percent of all US truck drivers reside in a jurisdiction where the adult use of marijuana is legal.
Federal law mandates that commercially licensed drivers be subject to both pre-employment and random marijuana urinalysis testing, which detects the presence of the inert carboxy-THC metabolite. This non-psychoactive metabolite can be detectable in subjects’ urine for weeks or even months following past exposure, long after any potential effects have worn off.
According to data published this summer in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, employees who consume cannabis during their off-hours possess no greater risk of occupational injury than do those who abstain from marijuana altogether.
Since 2020, over 100,000 truck drivers have tested positive for past exposure to marijuana. The majority of those positive tests came via pre-employment screening. Those who fail random tests are required to enter a ‘return to work’ program, which includes passing a drug test, in order to have their license reinstated. However, only about one-quarter of those with drug test failures have done so — resulting in driver shortages and supply chain issues.
The survey’s authors acknowledged that existing federal testing regulations are contributing to significant numbers of truck drivers leaving the industry while also dissuading new workers from entering it.
They concluded: “The federal prohibition of marijuana use by CDL holders has been highlighted as a potential disincentive for drivers to stay in the industry. … Marijuana [also] contributes to a higher percentage of positive drug tests in the pre-employment category than in the overall testing data – on average 71.1 percent of positive drug tests are positive for marijuana. Therefore, past use of marijuana – which may have been up to 30 days prior to the test – is filtering out a significant number of potential truck drivers from the industry.”
https://norml.org/blog/2023/10/10/survey-most-truck-drivers-and-their-carriers-favor-changes-in-federal-marijuana-testing-rules/
Trained police officers are frequently unable to discriminate between those who are under the influence of THC and those who are not based upon subjects’ performance on field sobriety tests, according to data published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Researchers affiliated with the University of California at San Diego performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial to evaluate whether the use of field sobriety tests (FSTs) are valid measurements for determining if drivers are under the influence of THC.
Consistent with prior analyses, police officers frequently misinterpreted subjects’ FST performance so that they deemed unimpaired participants (those who had smoked placebo cigarettes) to be under the influence. Overall, officers incorrectly classified 49.2 percent of the placebo group as impaired based upon their FST performance.
Investigators concluded, “The findings of this study suggest that (1) FSTs are useful adjuncts but do not provide strong objective evidence of THC-specific impairment and (2) additional efforts to validate existing methods and provide law enforcement with new, effective tools for identifying impairment are needed.”
https://norml.org/news/2023/08/10/study-police-unable-to-accurately-determine-thc-induced-impairment-via-field-sobriety-tests/
Investigators reported that the passage of both medical cannabis access laws and adult-use legalization laws were linked with overall declines in pedestrian fatalities, including declines in alcohol-related fatalities. Authors suggested that these results may be due to consumers substituting cannabis for alcohol.
They concluded: “As of 2019, we find [that] liberalization has been associated with lower pedestrian fatalities, not higher. Further, the pattern is consistent with the alcohol substitution hypothesis. Specifically, the induced decline in alcohol related fatalities following liberalization is large enough to more than compensate for any additional fatalities due to marijuana consumption.”
https://norml.org/news/2023/03/02/analysis-cannabis-legalization-associated-with-decrease-in-alcohol-related-fatalities-involving-pedestrians/
They concluded: “As of 2019, we find [that] liberalization has been associated with lower pedestrian fatalities, not higher. Further, the pattern is consistent with the alcohol substitution hypothesis. Specifically, the induced decline in alcohol related fatalities following liberalization is large enough to more than compensate for any additional fatalities due to marijuana consumption.”
https://norml.org/news/2023/03/02/analysis-cannabis-legalization-associated-with-decrease-in-alcohol-related-fatalities-involving-pedestrians/
For people talking about marijuana being detrimental to driving, one thing to remember is that if you're a bad driver nothing you ingest is going to make you a better one...but you can always find something to blame for your mistakes...
'Authors reported, “While legislators may wish for data showing straightforward relationships between blood THC levels and driving impairment that parallel those of alcohol, the widely different pharmacokinetic properties of the two substances … make this goal unrealistic.”
They added: “[S]tudies suggest that efforts to establish per se limits for cannabis-impaired drivers based on blood THC values are still premature at this time. Considerably more evidence is needed before we can have an equivalent ‘BAC for THC.’ The particular pharmacokinetics of cannabis and its variable impairing effects on driving ability currently seem to argue that defining a standardized per se limit for THC will be a very difficult goal to achieve.”
Researchers concluded: “Until there is more evidence-based consensus of opinion on meaningful thresholds for per se laws, we would recommend against reliance on such legislation. This is particularly the case given the significant inconsistencies in threshold values currently determined by different states in the US, and the rather weak scientific basis for such decisions. Any such laws cannot claim to be strongly based on current scientific evidence, which suggest collectively that standard based on detectable blood THC levels are not useful.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/10/07/analysis-thc-levels-not-indicative-of-driving-impairment
They added: “[S]tudies suggest that efforts to establish per se limits for cannabis-impaired drivers based on blood THC values are still premature at this time. Considerably more evidence is needed before we can have an equivalent ‘BAC for THC.’ The particular pharmacokinetics of cannabis and its variable impairing effects on driving ability currently seem to argue that defining a standardized per se limit for THC will be a very difficult goal to achieve.”
Researchers concluded: “Until there is more evidence-based consensus of opinion on meaningful thresholds for per se laws, we would recommend against reliance on such legislation. This is particularly the case given the significant inconsistencies in threshold values currently determined by different states in the US, and the rather weak scientific basis for such decisions. Any such laws cannot claim to be strongly based on current scientific evidence, which suggest collectively that standard based on detectable blood THC levels are not useful.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/10/07/analysis-thc-levels-not-indicative-of-driving-impairment
'I was getting too nervous to continue without chemical assistance. I reached under my seat for my kit bag, which contained five or six capsules of Black Acid. Wonderful, I thought. This is just what I need. I ate one and went back to pondering the map. There was a place called Deeth, just ahead, where a faintly marked side road appeared to wander uphill through the mountains and down along a jagged ridge into Jackpot from behind. Good, I thought, this is it. We could sneak in to Jackpot by dawn.
Just then I felt a blow on the side of my head as the Judge came awake with a screech, flailing his arms around him like he was coming out of a nightmare. "What's happening, goddamn it?" he said. "Where are we? They're after us." He was jabbering in a foreign language that quickly lapsed into English as he tried to aim the gun. "Oh, God," he screamed. "They're right on top of us. Get moving, goddamn it. I'll kill every bastard I see."
He was coming out of a nightmare. I grabbed him by the neck and put him in a headlock until he went limp. I pulled him back up in the seat and handed him a spansule of acid. "Here, Judge, take this," I said. "It'll calm you down."
He swallowed the pill and said nothing as I turned onto the highway and stood heavily on the accelerator. We were up to 115 when a green exit sign that said "Deeth No Services" loomed suddenly out of the rain just in front of us. I swerved hard to the right and tried to hang on. But it was no use. I remember the sound of the Judge screaming as we lost control and went into a full 360-degree curl and then backward at seventy-five or eighty through a fence and into a pasture.
For some reason the near-fatal accident had a calming effect on the Judge. Or maybe it was the acid. I didn't care one way or the other after I took the gun from his hand. He gave it up without a fight.'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
Just then I felt a blow on the side of my head as the Judge came awake with a screech, flailing his arms around him like he was coming out of a nightmare. "What's happening, goddamn it?" he said. "Where are we? They're after us." He was jabbering in a foreign language that quickly lapsed into English as he tried to aim the gun. "Oh, God," he screamed. "They're right on top of us. Get moving, goddamn it. I'll kill every bastard I see."
He was coming out of a nightmare. I grabbed him by the neck and put him in a headlock until he went limp. I pulled him back up in the seat and handed him a spansule of acid. "Here, Judge, take this," I said. "It'll calm you down."
He swallowed the pill and said nothing as I turned onto the highway and stood heavily on the accelerator. We were up to 115 when a green exit sign that said "Deeth No Services" loomed suddenly out of the rain just in front of us. I swerved hard to the right and tried to hang on. But it was no use. I remember the sound of the Judge screaming as we lost control and went into a full 360-degree curl and then backward at seventy-five or eighty through a fence and into a pasture.
For some reason the near-fatal accident had a calming effect on the Judge. Or maybe it was the acid. I didn't care one way or the other after I took the gun from his hand. He gave it up without a fight.'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
'Results
There was no evidence of significant changes associated with cannabis legalization on post-legalization weekly counts of drivers’ traffic-injury ED visits in: (1) Alberta, all drivers (n = 52,752 traffic-injury presentations), an increase of 9.17 visits (95 % CI -18.85; 37.20; p = 0.52); (2) Alberta, youth drivers (n = 3265 presentations), a decrease of 0.66 visits (95 % CI - 2.26; 0.94; p = 0.42); (3) Ontario, all drivers (n = 186,921 presentations), an increase of 28.93 visits (95 % CI -26.32; 84.19; p = 0.30); and (4) Ontario, youth drivers (n = 4565), an increase of 0.09 visits (95 % CI -6.25; 6.42; p = 0.98).
Conclusions
Implementation of the Cannabis Act was not associated with evidence of significant post-legalization changes in traffic-injury ED visits in Ontario or Alberta among all drivers or youth drivers, in particular.'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871621005032
There was no evidence of significant changes associated with cannabis legalization on post-legalization weekly counts of drivers’ traffic-injury ED visits in: (1) Alberta, all drivers (n = 52,752 traffic-injury presentations), an increase of 9.17 visits (95 % CI -18.85; 37.20; p = 0.52); (2) Alberta, youth drivers (n = 3265 presentations), a decrease of 0.66 visits (95 % CI - 2.26; 0.94; p = 0.42); (3) Ontario, all drivers (n = 186,921 presentations), an increase of 28.93 visits (95 % CI -26.32; 84.19; p = 0.30); and (4) Ontario, youth drivers (n = 4565), an increase of 0.09 visits (95 % CI -6.25; 6.42; p = 0.98).
Conclusions
Implementation of the Cannabis Act was not associated with evidence of significant post-legalization changes in traffic-injury ED visits in Ontario or Alberta among all drivers or youth drivers, in particular.'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871621005032
'Results: Mean pupil diameter (r=0.81–0.86) and gaze pitch angle standard deviation (r=0.79–0.87) were significantly correlated with blood THC concentration (p<0.01) for all epoch lengths. For driving performance variables, saccade-related features were among those showing the most significant correlation (r=0.61–0.83, p<0.05). Epoch length significantly affected correlations between eye-tracking features and speed (p<0.05), but not SDLP or blood THC concentration (p>0.1). Temporal trend analysis of eye-tracking features after cannabis also showed a significant increasing trend (p<0.01) in saccade-related features, including velocity, scanpath, and duration, as the influence of cannabis decreased by time. A decreasing trend was observed for fixation percentage and mean pupil diameter. Due to the lack of placebo control in this study, these results are considered preliminary.
Conclusion: Specific eye characteristics could potentially be used as nonintrusive markers of THC presence and driving-related effects of cannabis.'
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/can.2020.0141
Conclusion: Specific eye characteristics could potentially be used as nonintrusive markers of THC presence and driving-related effects of cannabis.'
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/can.2020.0141
'Authors reported: “In this study of the acute effects of cannabis use on driving performance among participants with a history of using cannabis daily or occasionally, we found evidence for decrements of driving performance in both groups relative to baseline for SDLP, that was of moderate size and statistical significance only in the occasional users. Small, statistically significant decreases in speed were observed in the daily use group.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/08/26/daily-marijuana-consumers-exhibit-insignificant-changes-in-simulated-driving-performance-after-smoking
https://norml.org/news/2021/08/26/daily-marijuana-consumers-exhibit-insignificant-changes-in-simulated-driving-performance-after-smoking
'Investigators reported: “We found that the rate of positive cannabinoid screen results among patients with trauma referred directly to our trauma service was similar in the 3 months before and [in] the 3 months after the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada. … In the subgroup of patients whose mechanism of trauma was a motor vehicle collision, there was no difference in the rate of positive toxicology screen results or positive cannabinoid screen results between the two periods.”
They concluded, “These preliminary single-center data showing no increased rates of cannabis use in patients with trauma after legalization are reassuring.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/07/29/canada-no-uptick-in-trauma-patients-testing-positive-for-cannabis-post-legalization
They concluded, “These preliminary single-center data showing no increased rates of cannabis use in patients with trauma after legalization are reassuring.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/07/29/canada-no-uptick-in-trauma-patients-testing-positive-for-cannabis-post-legalization
'“Results from the toxicology tests showed that the levels of all three targeted cannabis components (THC, cannabidiol, and cannabinol) in blood, urine, and oral fluid did not correlate with cognitive or psychomotor impairment measures for oral or vaporized cannabis administration,” NIJ said.
“Many of their study participants had significantly decreased cognitive and psychomotor functioning even when their blood, urine, and oral fluid contained low levels of THC,” the federal agency continued. “The researchers also observed that standardized field sobriety tests commonly used to detect driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol were not effective in detecting marijuana intoxication.”'
https://thenewsstation.com/not-reliable-to-test-for-thc-for-marijuana-impairment/
“Many of their study participants had significantly decreased cognitive and psychomotor functioning even when their blood, urine, and oral fluid contained low levels of THC,” the federal agency continued. “The researchers also observed that standardized field sobriety tests commonly used to detect driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol were not effective in detecting marijuana intoxication.”'
https://thenewsstation.com/not-reliable-to-test-for-thc-for-marijuana-impairment/
'“Researchers investigated how marijuana affects skills required for safe driving and found that biofluid levels of THC did not correlate with field sobriety test performance or marijuana intoxication, regardless of how the cannabis was ingested.”
That raises questions about “per se” laws that are in place in several states, barring people from driving if they have more than a certain amount of THC in their blood.
“These important findings come as no surprise,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “Despite a handful of states imposing per se THC thresholds as part of their traffic safety laws, there exists no science demonstrating that these arbitrary limits are reliable predictors of either recent cannabis exposure or impairment.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/testing-people-for-marijuana-impairment-based-on-thc-levels-is-not-reliable-federally-funded-study-finds/
That raises questions about “per se” laws that are in place in several states, barring people from driving if they have more than a certain amount of THC in their blood.
“These important findings come as no surprise,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “Despite a handful of states imposing per se THC thresholds as part of their traffic safety laws, there exists no science demonstrating that these arbitrary limits are reliable predictors of either recent cannabis exposure or impairment.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/testing-people-for-marijuana-impairment-based-on-thc-levels-is-not-reliable-federally-funded-study-finds/
'Authors determined, “There did not appear to be a relationship between the legalization of marijuana and the likelihood of finding THC in patients admitted after MVC (a motor vehicle crash).” They concluded, “There was no apparent increase in the incidence of driving under the influence of marijuana after legalization.”'
https://norml.org/news/2021/02/18/study-adult-use-marijuana-legalization-is-not-independently-associated-with-increased-risk-of-crash-victims-testing-positive-for-cannabis
'Results
For all participants, plasma and oral fluid THC concentrations were over the per se limits used 30 min after vaporizing THC-dominant or THC/CBD equivalent cannabis. However, 46% of participants failed to meet SDLP criteria for driving impairment. At 3.5h post-vaporization, 57% of participants showed impairment, despite having low concentrations of THC in both blood (median =1.0ng/mL) and oral fluid (median = 1.0ng/mL). We highlight two individual cases illustrating how (i) impairment can be minimal in the presence of a positive THC result, and (ii) impairment can be profound in the presence of a negative THC result.
Conclusions
There appears to be a poor and inconsistent relationship between magnitude of impairment and THC concentrations in biological samples, meaning that per se limits cannot reliably discriminate between impaired from unimpaired drivers. There is a pressing need to develop improved methods of detecting cannabis intoxication and impairment.'
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15389588.2020.1851685?journalCode=gcpi20
https://norml.org/news/2021/02/18/study-adult-use-marijuana-legalization-is-not-independently-associated-with-increased-risk-of-crash-victims-testing-positive-for-cannabis
'Results
For all participants, plasma and oral fluid THC concentrations were over the per se limits used 30 min after vaporizing THC-dominant or THC/CBD equivalent cannabis. However, 46% of participants failed to meet SDLP criteria for driving impairment. At 3.5h post-vaporization, 57% of participants showed impairment, despite having low concentrations of THC in both blood (median =1.0ng/mL) and oral fluid (median = 1.0ng/mL). We highlight two individual cases illustrating how (i) impairment can be minimal in the presence of a positive THC result, and (ii) impairment can be profound in the presence of a negative THC result.
Conclusions
There appears to be a poor and inconsistent relationship between magnitude of impairment and THC concentrations in biological samples, meaning that per se limits cannot reliably discriminate between impaired from unimpaired drivers. There is a pressing need to develop improved methods of detecting cannabis intoxication and impairment.'
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15389588.2020.1851685?journalCode=gcpi20
The total number of alleged Covid related deaths in the country has now equaled deaths in road accidents in 2019. The absurd governmental rule making mask wearing mandatory in public, besides causing serious hygiene related issues due to prolonged mask wearing and providing petrochemical industries with vast amounts of revenue through synthetic mask sales, has also produced an equally absurd reaction among the public. Two-wheeler riders are required to wear both masks and helmets. Citing discomfort with wearing both, many riders have chosen to wear the mask and discard the helmet. This means that they have chosen to protect themselves against a cause of death which has about a 2% fatality rate i.e. Covid rather than protect themselves from a cause of death that has at least a 75% fatality rate i.e. a head injury.
Feb 23, 2021 4:20:06pm
Feb 23, 2021 4:20:06pm
'Small doses of CBD appear to have no significant impact on driving, according to first-of-its-kind research published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Similar doses of THC, meanwhile, were associated with short-term impairment “modest in magnitude and similar to that seen in drivers with a 0.05%” blood alcohol concentration, the study found.
After about four hours, signs of marijuana impairment faded.'
Similar doses of THC, meanwhile, were associated with short-term impairment “modest in magnitude and similar to that seen in drivers with a 0.05%” blood alcohol concentration, the study found.
After about four hours, signs of marijuana impairment faded.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/cbd-doesnt-impair-driving-landmark-study-finds-while-thcs-effects-fade-in-hours/
'Results
We found no significant differences in pedestrian-involved fatal motor vehicle crashes between legalized cannabis states and control states following medical or recreational cannabis legalization. Washington and Oregon saw immediate decreases in all fatal crashes (-4.15 and -6.60) following medical cannabis legalization. Colorado showed an increase in trend for all fatal crashes after recreational cannabis legalization and the beginning of sales (0.15 and 0.18 monthly fatal crashes per 100,000 people).
Conclusions
Overall findings do not suggest an elevated risk of total or pedestrian-involved fatal motor vehicle crashes associated with cannabis legalization.'
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15389588.2020.1810246?journalCode=gcpi20
'Results
We found no significant differences in pedestrian-involved fatal motor vehicle crashes between legalized cannabis states and control states following medical or recreational cannabis legalization. Washington and Oregon saw immediate decreases in all fatal crashes (-4.15 and -6.60) following medical cannabis legalization. Colorado showed an increase in trend for all fatal crashes after recreational cannabis legalization and the beginning of sales (0.15 and 0.18 monthly fatal crashes per 100,000 people).
Conclusions
Overall findings do not suggest an elevated risk of total or pedestrian-involved fatal motor vehicle crashes associated with cannabis legalization.'
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15389588.2020.1810246?journalCode=gcpi20
'And in spite of the evidence linking cigarettes with lung cancer, practically everybody regards tobacco smoking as being hardly less normal and natural than eating. From the point of view of the rationalist utilitarian this may seem odd. For the historian, it is exactly what you would expect. A firm conviction of the material reality of Hell never prevented mediaeval Christians from doing what their ambition, lust or covetousness suggested. Lung cancer, traffic accidents and the millions of miserable and misery-creating alcoholics are facts even more certain than was, in Dante's day, the fact of the Inferno. But all such facts are remote and unsubstantial compared with the near, felt fact of a craving, here and now, for release or sedation, for a drink or a smoke.' - The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley, 1954.
'In Washington, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol is considered the number one contributing factor in fatal crashes and is involved in nearly half of all traffic fatalities. However, in that state, reporting on such cases does not differentiate between cannabis and other drugs. The number of reported cases of driving under the influence of drugs has increased by more than 60 per cent in Washington since 2014. Although not so recent, data on drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for alcohol or drugs in Washington during the period 2008–2016 show that 44 per cent tested positive for two or more substances. Of those substances, the most common one was alcohol, followed by THC, while alcohol and THC formed the most common polydrug combination involved in fatal crashes during that period.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Starting in 2014, data on traffic fatalities in Colorado showed a marked increase in the number of traffic deaths in which the driver tested positive for cannabis use. Over the period 2009–2013, there were 53 traffic deaths on average per year in which the driver tested positive for cannabis, a figure that increased to an average of 110 such deaths in the period 2014–2018, and the proportion of fatalities with drivers testing positive for cannabis doubled over the period 2009–2018. However, toxicology analysis has shown that car crashes in which the driver was found to be under the influence of cannabis frequently involved other drugs, in particular alcohol' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'A contentious issue between people who are for and against the legalization of cannabis remains whether it has had an impact on driving under the influence of cannabis and caused fatal car crashes. The evidence remains inconclusive, as within the United States there have been no differences in cannabis- or alcohol-related traffic fatalities between states that have and have not legalized the non-medical use of cannabis. As different research contributions have also shown, it is difficult to quantify the effects of cannabis on road accidents, as cannabis is often used in combination with alcohol, which increases the challenge of determining the influence of cannabis itself on road traffic accidents. Moreover, studies on THC levels and degrees of impairment have found that the level of THC in the blood and the degree of impairment do not appear to be closely related; peak impairment does not occur when THC concentration in the blood is at or near peak levels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Subjects decreased their overall mean speed following cannabis consumption. Cannabis smoking did not appear to influence subjects' ability to maintain lateral control or their brake reaction time. Despite refraining from the use in cannabis in the days leading up to the study, subjects nonetheless possessed residual levels of THC (4ng/ml on average) in their blood prior to smoking marijuana during the study session.
Authors concluded: "The purpose of the present pilot study was to investigate the effects of therapeutic cannabis use on simulated driving. It was found that therapeutic cannabis reduced overall mean speed with no effects on straightaway mean speed, straightaway lateral control, or brake latency."
https://norml.org/news/2020/05/07/study-patients-show-few-changes-in-driving-performance-following-marijuana-inhalation
'In Washington, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol is considered the number one contributing factor in fatal crashes and is involved in nearly half of all traffic fatalities. However, in that state, reporting on such cases does not differentiate between cannabis and other drugs. The number of reported cases of driving under the influence of drugs has increased by more than 60 per cent in Washington since 2014. Although not so recent, data on drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for alcohol or drugs in Washington during the period 2008–2016 show that 44 per cent tested positive for two or more substances. Of those substances, the most common one was alcohol, followed by THC, while alcohol and THC formed the most common polydrug combination involved in fatal crashes during that period.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Starting in 2014, data on traffic fatalities in Colorado showed a marked increase in the number of traffic deaths in which the driver tested positive for cannabis use. Over the period 2009–2013, there were 53 traffic deaths on average per year in which the driver tested positive for cannabis, a figure that increased to an average of 110 such deaths in the period 2014–2018, and the proportion of fatalities with drivers testing positive for cannabis doubled over the period 2009–2018. However, toxicology analysis has shown that car crashes in which the driver was found to be under the influence of cannabis frequently involved other drugs, in particular alcohol' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'A contentious issue between people who are for and against the legalization of cannabis remains whether it has had an impact on driving under the influence of cannabis and caused fatal car crashes. The evidence remains inconclusive, as within the United States there have been no differences in cannabis- or alcohol-related traffic fatalities between states that have and have not legalized the non-medical use of cannabis. As different research contributions have also shown, it is difficult to quantify the effects of cannabis on road accidents, as cannabis is often used in combination with alcohol, which increases the challenge of determining the influence of cannabis itself on road traffic accidents. Moreover, studies on THC levels and degrees of impairment have found that the level of THC in the blood and the degree of impairment do not appear to be closely related; peak impairment does not occur when THC concentration in the blood is at or near peak levels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Subjects decreased their overall mean speed following cannabis consumption. Cannabis smoking did not appear to influence subjects' ability to maintain lateral control or their brake reaction time. Despite refraining from the use in cannabis in the days leading up to the study, subjects nonetheless possessed residual levels of THC (4ng/ml on average) in their blood prior to smoking marijuana during the study session.
Authors concluded: "The purpose of the present pilot study was to investigate the effects of therapeutic cannabis use on simulated driving. It was found that therapeutic cannabis reduced overall mean speed with no effects on straightaway mean speed, straightaway lateral control, or brake latency."
https://norml.org/news/2020/05/07/study-patients-show-few-changes-in-driving-performance-following-marijuana-inhalation
'Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel.
I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. A V-8 Cadillac will go ten or fifteen miles faster if you give it a full dose of "Carmelita." This has been proven many times. That is why you see so many Cadillacs parked in front of truck stops on Highway 66 around midnight. These are Speed Pimps, and they are loading up on more than gasoline. You watch one of these places for a while, and you see a pattern: a big fast car pulls up in front of the doors and a wild-looking girl gets out, stark-naked except for a fur coat or a ski parka, and she runs into the place with a handful of money, half crazy to buy some flat-out guaranteed driving music.
It happens over and over, and sooner or later you get hooked on it, you get addicted. Every time I hear "White Rabbit," I am back on the greasy midnight streets of San Francisco, looking for music, riding a fast red motorcycle downhill into the Presidio, leaning desperately into the curves through the eucalyptus trees, trying to get to the Matrix in time to hear Grace Slick play the flute.
There was no piped-in music on those nights, no headphones or Walkman or even a plastic windscreen to keep off the rain. But I could hear the music anyway, even when it was five miles away. Once you heard the music done right, you could pack it into your brain and take it anywhere, forever.'
- Hey Rube! I Love You: Eerie Reflections on Fuel, Madness & Music, May 13, 1999, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. A V-8 Cadillac will go ten or fifteen miles faster if you give it a full dose of "Carmelita." This has been proven many times. That is why you see so many Cadillacs parked in front of truck stops on Highway 66 around midnight. These are Speed Pimps, and they are loading up on more than gasoline. You watch one of these places for a while, and you see a pattern: a big fast car pulls up in front of the doors and a wild-looking girl gets out, stark-naked except for a fur coat or a ski parka, and she runs into the place with a handful of money, half crazy to buy some flat-out guaranteed driving music.
It happens over and over, and sooner or later you get hooked on it, you get addicted. Every time I hear "White Rabbit," I am back on the greasy midnight streets of San Francisco, looking for music, riding a fast red motorcycle downhill into the Presidio, leaning desperately into the curves through the eucalyptus trees, trying to get to the Matrix in time to hear Grace Slick play the flute.
There was no piped-in music on those nights, no headphones or Walkman or even a plastic windscreen to keep off the rain. But I could hear the music anyway, even when it was five miles away. Once you heard the music done right, you could pack it into your brain and take it anywhere, forever.'
- Hey Rube! I Love You: Eerie Reflections on Fuel, Madness & Music, May 13, 1999, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
October 17th 2018 is building up to be a special day...
'To discourage people from driving impaired with their legally purchased weed, Lyft says it will offer $10.17 off rides in the Greater Toronto Area on the 17th.'
https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/10/09/lyft-canada-october-17-marijuana-legalization/
'“We seem to be trying to apply an alcohol logic to a completely different product,” he said. “It needs to be regulated in a way that’s based on data and not just on stigma.”'
https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/07/17/medical-marijuana-users-worry-canadas-pot-impaired-driving-rules-will-run-them-off-the-road.html
'Forty percent of recreational users and 34 percent of medical users said they don’t think being under the influence of marijuana affects their ability to drive safely. About 10 percent of all users think it makes them a better driver.'
http://www.julesburgadvocate.com/ci_31816728/cdot-survey-reveals-new-insight-marijuana-and-driving
'Police forces in Vancouver, Regina, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Truro, N.S., and Kensington, P.E.I., all said they hadn't noticed a significant change in driver behaviour since pot was legalized on Oct. 17.
Cantelo said there were three impaired driving charges in his community over the last few weeks and they were "strictly older adults with alcohol."'
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/early-data-suggests-no-spike-in-pot-impaired-driving-after-legalization-police-1.4178044
'“We found little evidence that the number of drivers involved in fatal traffic crashes are elevated on April 20 relative to any control period,” the researchers said. “This is not because daily crash rates are too noisy to detect any signal. On the contrary, we find important, systematic, and meaningful variation in the daily number of drivers involved in fatal traffic crashes across the period from 1975 to 2016.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/study-debunks-claim-that-traffic-deaths-increase-on-the-4-20-marijuana-holiday/
'The only fair solution is for police to assess drivers for impairment as we now do for low- blood-alcohol-content impaired drivers and drug-impaired drivers, and to conduct toxicology screens to corroborate that cannabis is present, rather than measuring irrelevant levels in body fluids. Fortunately, screenings are less expensive, quicker and easier to do than measuring body fluid levels. It’s concerning that this means impairment will be assessed entirely by police officers, but that is the most just option currently available. To address this concern, police should use dash- and bodycams to document impairing behavior—such as driving behavior leading to the traffic stop and impairing behavior on field sobriety tests—when possible.'
https://reason.org/policy-study/a-common-sense-approach-to-marijuana-impaired-driving/
'Pre and post legalization Washington state fatalities were compared against 43 control groups where marijuana has not been legalized for recreational use. Results from ANCOVA analysis indicated no statistical difference between Washington State and other nonlegalized states in traffic fatalities involving cannabinoids. This is one of the first studies exploring the effects of marijuana legalization on public safety. These results suggest marijuana legalization may not contribute to the increase in traffic fatalities.
Findings may provide legislators and traffic safety stakeholders with information in creating legislation legalizing marijuana as well as strategy and a research agenda to address traffic fatalities.'
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6330/
'There was no visibility on the road, none at all. I could have tossed a flat rock further than I could see in front of me that night through the rain and the ground fog. There is a total understanding, all at once, of how the captain of the Titanic must have felt when he first say the Iceberg.
And not much different from the hideous feeling that gripped me when the beam of my Long-Reach Super-Halogen headlights picked up what appeared to be a massive rock slide across the highway - right in front of me, blocking the road completely. Big white rocks and round boulders, looming up with no warning in a fog of rising steam or swamp gas...
The brakes were useless, the car was wandering. The rear end was coming around. I jammed it into Low, but it made no difference, so I straightened it out and braced for a crash that would probably kill me. This is It, I thought. This is how it happens - slamming into a pile of rocks at one hundred miles an hour, a sudden brutal death in a fast red car on a moonless night in a rainstorm somewhere on the sleazy outskirts of Elko. I felt vaguely embarrassed in the long pure instant before I went into the rocks. I remembered Los Lobos and that I wanted to call Maria when I got to Elko...'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
And not much different from the hideous feeling that gripped me when the beam of my Long-Reach Super-Halogen headlights picked up what appeared to be a massive rock slide across the highway - right in front of me, blocking the road completely. Big white rocks and round boulders, looming up with no warning in a fog of rising steam or swamp gas...
The brakes were useless, the car was wandering. The rear end was coming around. I jammed it into Low, but it made no difference, so I straightened it out and braced for a crash that would probably kill me. This is It, I thought. This is how it happens - slamming into a pile of rocks at one hundred miles an hour, a sudden brutal death in a fast red car on a moonless night in a rainstorm somewhere on the sleazy outskirts of Elko. I felt vaguely embarrassed in the long pure instant before I went into the rocks. I remembered Los Lobos and that I wanted to call Maria when I got to Elko...'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
'MJ [marijuana] was illegal in the states where most of the participants were in practice (79%, n = 100), but 90% (n = 114) of respondents from states where MJ is legal stated they have not seen an increase in MVC since MJ was legalized. At the TX trauma center, only 4% of patients involved in a vehicular trauma tested positive for MJ, 21% of patients had the presence of ETOH [alcohol], and 3% had both. For both MJ and also ETOH, the incidence remained the same each year. In CA, there was little yearly variation in the incidence of patients that tested positive for MJ (23%), ETOH (50%), and both (7%). In addition, the incidence of MJ was essentially unchanged after the decriminalization law was passed in 2010.'
https://www.cureus.com/articles/16182-the-impact-of-marijuana-legalization-on-vehicular-trauma
The fact that this guy is a spoilt rich kid who probably doesn't know how to drive a car properly has been glossed over and marijuana has been conveniently blamed.
'Nearly 15 months after Geetha Vishnu, grandson of liquor baron the late K.D. Adikesavulu Naidu, was booked for allegedly ramming his vehicle into a car and injuring six people and two children, the police have filed a charge sheet. According to the police, he was under the influence of marijuana while driving.
In the charge sheet, the police said that he lost control of his luxury car and rammed into another vehicle and a BBMP signboard near South End Circle on September 28, 2017. At the time, the police recovered 110 grams of marijuana from his car.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/geetha-vishnu-booked-for-driving-under-drug-influence/article25936221.ece
There are other studies out which show that this is not a phenomenon specific to cannabis celebration day. These studies show that there is a spike in collisions on major holidays like New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Mardi Gras, etc. To associate the spike in accidents with only cannabis consumption and 4/20 is probably not accurate.
'Cannabis celebration day, also known as “420 day”, takes place at 4:20pm on April 20 every year. The objective of this paper is to study whether there is an increase in road traffic collisions in Great Britain on that day. We used daily car crash data resulting in death or injury from all 51 local police forces covering Great Britain over the period 2011–2015. We compared crashes from 4:20pm onwards on April 20 to control days on the same day of the week in the preceding and succeeding two weeks, using panel data econometric models. On the average cannabis celebration day in Britain, there were an additional 23 police-reported collisions compared to control days, corresponding to a 17.9% increase in the relative risk of collision.'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457519302374
'My heart was full of joy as I took the first hit, which was oddly soft and painless. Just a sickening thud, like running over a body, a corpse - or, ye fucking gods, a crippled two-hundred-pound sheep thrashing around on the road.
Yes. These huge white lumps were not boulders. They were sheep, dead and dying sheep. More and more of them, impossible to miss at this speed, piled up on each other like bodies at the battle of Shiloh. It was like running over wet logs. Horrible, horrible...
And then I saw the man - a leaping Human Figure in the glare of my bouncing headlights, waving his arms and yelling, trying to flag me down. I swerved to avoid hitting him, but he seemed not to see me, rushing straight into my headlights like a blind man...or a monster from Mars with no pulse, covered with blood and hysterical.
It looked like a small black gentleman in a London Fog raincoat, frantic to get my attention. It was so ugly that my brain refused to accept it...Don't worry, I thought. This is only an Acid flashback. Be calm. This is not really happening.
I was down to thirty-five or thirty when I zoomed past the man in the raincoat and bashed the brains out of a struggling sheep, which helped to reduce my speed, as the car went airborne again, then bounced to a shuddering stop juts before I hit the smoking, overturned hulk of what looked like a white Cadillac limousine, with people still inside. It was a nightmare. Some fool had crashed into a herd of sheep at high speed and rolled into the desert like an eggbeater.'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
Yes. These huge white lumps were not boulders. They were sheep, dead and dying sheep. More and more of them, impossible to miss at this speed, piled up on each other like bodies at the battle of Shiloh. It was like running over wet logs. Horrible, horrible...
And then I saw the man - a leaping Human Figure in the glare of my bouncing headlights, waving his arms and yelling, trying to flag me down. I swerved to avoid hitting him, but he seemed not to see me, rushing straight into my headlights like a blind man...or a monster from Mars with no pulse, covered with blood and hysterical.
It looked like a small black gentleman in a London Fog raincoat, frantic to get my attention. It was so ugly that my brain refused to accept it...Don't worry, I thought. This is only an Acid flashback. Be calm. This is not really happening.
I was down to thirty-five or thirty when I zoomed past the man in the raincoat and bashed the brains out of a struggling sheep, which helped to reduce my speed, as the car went airborne again, then bounced to a shuddering stop juts before I hit the smoking, overturned hulk of what looked like a white Cadillac limousine, with people still inside. It was a nightmare. Some fool had crashed into a herd of sheep at high speed and rolled into the desert like an eggbeater.'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
'First time offenders of driving under the influence of cannabis will no longer have their driver's license revoked, a federal court in Leipzig ruled on Tuesday.
Instead, driver's license authorities must first declare with a medical evaluation whether or not the cannabis user was fit to drive.'
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-drivers-on-cannabis-will-no-longer-automatically-lose-license/a-48295955
Good to see the inclusion of prescription drugs, over the counter drugs and opioids as causes for fatal crashes rather than only pointing to marijuana as the chief culprit as seen in many reports and using that as a reason to justify prohibition...DUI checks should surely include these drugs as well besides alcohol and marijuana?
'The scope of the drug-impaired driving problem is significant and growing. The Governors Highway Safety Association recently reported that 44% of drivers killed in crashes in 2016 tested positive for illegal, prescription, or over-the-counter drugs.
That is a dramatic increase from the 28% testing positive in 2006. More than half of these drivers had marijuana, opioids, or both, in their system. The number of drivers killed in crashes who tested positive for marijuana doubled from 2007 to 2015. And some over-the-counter medications contribute to the impaired driving problem. As the FDA cautions consumers: some over-the-counter drugs can impair the ability to drive safely by causing sleepiness, blurred vision and other side effects.'
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/nhtsa-drug-impaired-driving-public-meeting
Instead, driver's license authorities must first declare with a medical evaluation whether or not the cannabis user was fit to drive.'
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-drivers-on-cannabis-will-no-longer-automatically-lose-license/a-48295955
Good to see the inclusion of prescription drugs, over the counter drugs and opioids as causes for fatal crashes rather than only pointing to marijuana as the chief culprit as seen in many reports and using that as a reason to justify prohibition...DUI checks should surely include these drugs as well besides alcohol and marijuana?
'The scope of the drug-impaired driving problem is significant and growing. The Governors Highway Safety Association recently reported that 44% of drivers killed in crashes in 2016 tested positive for illegal, prescription, or over-the-counter drugs.
That is a dramatic increase from the 28% testing positive in 2006. More than half of these drivers had marijuana, opioids, or both, in their system. The number of drivers killed in crashes who tested positive for marijuana doubled from 2007 to 2015. And some over-the-counter medications contribute to the impaired driving problem. As the FDA cautions consumers: some over-the-counter drugs can impair the ability to drive safely by causing sleepiness, blurred vision and other side effects.'
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/nhtsa-drug-impaired-driving-public-meeting
'"Good work, Judge,' I said. "They'll never catch us now." He smiled and drank deeply from our Whiskey jug, which he had somehow picked up as we fled...Then he passed it over to me, and I too drank deeply as I whipped the big V-8 into passing gear and we went from forty-five to ninety in four seconds and left the ugliness far behind us in the rain.
I glanced over at the Judge as he loaded five huge bullets into the Magnum. He was very calm and focused, showing no signs of the drug coma that had crippled him just moments before...I was impressed. The man was clearly a Warrior. I slapped him on the back and grinned. "Calm down, Judge," I said. "We're almost home."
I knew better, of course. I was one thousand miles from home, and we were almost certainly doomed. There was no hope of escaping the dragnet that would be put out for us, once those poor fools discovered Leach in a pool of burning blood with the top of his head blown off. The squad car was destroyed - thanks to the shrew instincts of the Judge - but I knew it would not take them long to send out an all-points alarm. Soon there would be angry police roadblocks at every exit between Reno and Salt Lake City...
So what? I thought. There were many side roads, and we had a very fast car. All I had to do was to get the Judge out of his killing frenzy and find a truck stop where I could buy a few cans of Flat Black spray paint. Then we could slither out of the state by dawn and find a place to hide.
But it would not be an easy run. In the quick space of four hours we had destroyed two automobiles and somehow participated in at least one killing - in addition to all the other random, standard-brand crimes like speeding and arson and attempted murder of State Police officers while fleeing the scene of a homicide...'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
I glanced over at the Judge as he loaded five huge bullets into the Magnum. He was very calm and focused, showing no signs of the drug coma that had crippled him just moments before...I was impressed. The man was clearly a Warrior. I slapped him on the back and grinned. "Calm down, Judge," I said. "We're almost home."
I knew better, of course. I was one thousand miles from home, and we were almost certainly doomed. There was no hope of escaping the dragnet that would be put out for us, once those poor fools discovered Leach in a pool of burning blood with the top of his head blown off. The squad car was destroyed - thanks to the shrew instincts of the Judge - but I knew it would not take them long to send out an all-points alarm. Soon there would be angry police roadblocks at every exit between Reno and Salt Lake City...
So what? I thought. There were many side roads, and we had a very fast car. All I had to do was to get the Judge out of his killing frenzy and find a truck stop where I could buy a few cans of Flat Black spray paint. Then we could slither out of the state by dawn and find a place to hide.
But it would not be an easy run. In the quick space of four hours we had destroyed two automobiles and somehow participated in at least one killing - in addition to all the other random, standard-brand crimes like speeding and arson and attempted murder of State Police officers while fleeing the scene of a homicide...'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
'Law enforcement officers don’t always test for other substances if they’ve already determined a driver’s blood alcohol content is at or above the legal limit. It costs between $100 and $500 per blood sample to test for substances other than alcohol, according to the report. Further, suspects sometimes have to be transported to a different location before blood can be drawn for testing. During that time, the amount of THC in their blood decreases quickly.'
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/08/09/driving-while-high-colorado/
'Whereas a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher is accepted as the threshold for a DUI charge, blood tests for marijuana aren’t as reliable a measure of physical impairment. Cannabinoids are metabolized differently depending on the individual and the way it was ingested. As a result, the idea of blood tests for marijuana is “flawed,” according to Matt Allen, who is also on the commission’s impaired driving panel.'
https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2018/06/21/massachusetts-marijuana-impaired-driving
'For years, anti-marijuana groups have spun data in an attempt to prove that the sky is falling as a result of progressive cannabis laws in Colorado. The latest example involves a vast exaggeration about the level of stoned driving in the state, complete with an assist from the Denver Post.'
https://www.westword.com/news/how-anti-pot-groups-twisted-facts-to-exaggerate-colorado-stoned-driving-problem-10661711
For people talking about marijuana being detrimental to driving, one thing to remember is that if you're a bad driver nothing you ingest is going to make you a better one...but you can always find something to blame for your mistakes...
In Bengaluru, not only is riding a two-wheeler without a helmet illegal, it is also much more dangerous than smoking marijuana.
'Ours is the age, among other things, of the automobile and of rocketing
population. Alcohol is incompatible with safety on the roads, and its
production, like that of tobacco, condemns to virtual sterility many
millions of acres of the most fertile soil. The problems raised by
alcohol and tobacco cannot, it goes without saying, be solved by
prohibition. The universal and ever-present urge to self-transcendence
is not to be abolished by slamming the currenty popular Doors in the
Wall. The only reasonable policy is to open other, better doors in the
hope of inducing men and women to exchange their old bad habits for new
and less harmful ones. Some of these other, better doors will be social
and technological in nature, others religious or psychological, others
dietetic, educational, athletic. But the need for frequent chemical
vacations from intolerable selfhood and repulsive surroundings will
undoubtedly remain.' - The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley, 1954.
'We were able to laugh about it later, but it took a while to calm down. What the hell? It was only an accident. The Judge had murdered some range animals.
So what? Only a racist maniac would run sheep on the highway in a thunderstorm at this hour of the night. "Fuck those people!" he snapped, as I took off toward Elko with him and his two female companions tucked safely into my car, which had suffered major cosmetic damage but nothing serious. "They'll never get away with this Negligence!" he said. "We'll eat them alive in court. Take my word for it. We are about to become joint owners of a huge Nevada sheep ranch."
Wonderful, I thought. But meanwhile we were leaving the scene of a very conspicuous wreck that was sure to be noticed by morning, and the whole front of my car was gummed up with wool and sheep blood. There was no way I could leave it parked on the street in Elko, where I'd planned to stay for the night (maybe two or three nights, for that matter) to visit some old friends who were attending a kind of Appalachian Conference for sex-film distributors at the legendary Commercial Hotel..
Never mind that, I thought. Things have changed. I was suddenly a Victim of Tragedy - injured and on the run, far out in the middle of sheep country - one thousand miles from home with a car full of seriously criminal hitchhikers who were spattered with blood and cursing angrily at each other as we zoomed through the blinding monsoon.'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
So what? Only a racist maniac would run sheep on the highway in a thunderstorm at this hour of the night. "Fuck those people!" he snapped, as I took off toward Elko with him and his two female companions tucked safely into my car, which had suffered major cosmetic damage but nothing serious. "They'll never get away with this Negligence!" he said. "We'll eat them alive in court. Take my word for it. We are about to become joint owners of a huge Nevada sheep ranch."
Wonderful, I thought. But meanwhile we were leaving the scene of a very conspicuous wreck that was sure to be noticed by morning, and the whole front of my car was gummed up with wool and sheep blood. There was no way I could leave it parked on the street in Elko, where I'd planned to stay for the night (maybe two or three nights, for that matter) to visit some old friends who were attending a kind of Appalachian Conference for sex-film distributors at the legendary Commercial Hotel..
Never mind that, I thought. Things have changed. I was suddenly a Victim of Tragedy - injured and on the run, far out in the middle of sheep country - one thousand miles from home with a car full of seriously criminal hitchhikers who were spattered with blood and cursing angrily at each other as we zoomed through the blinding monsoon.'
- Fear and Loathing in Elko, January 23, 1992, Fear and Loathing at the Rolling Stone, The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
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