Driving whilst high

Cemmos

Well-Known Member
4. Has nobody here had at least one stupid high moment, where you do something completely wrong and then laugh about it? Well, you can't have even one of those behind the wheel.
Sometimes I think I just don't get high as others do, because I've never had a moment like that, except maybe the first time I ever got high (took a few tries before it ever worked). I can smoke or vape a gram and be just as high as I would have been with half of that. And I'm very functional when I'm high. Nobody ever knows when I've had a bowl -- both those that know I use cannabis and those that don't. There have been a couple of times when someone smelled it in my car shortly after a session and mentioned how it smelled like weed, without even thinking about if I was high or not at the time.

But I guess that goes along with what most people have been mentioning; everyone is affected differently.
 

Petro

Well-Known Member
The more I think about this the worse I feel. Even though driving high is infinitely better than being drunk it is definitely not ideal and probably even a little stupid and reckless. Would never want to condone or encourage doing it, as hypocritical as that may be. There has certainly been a few times that I have turned out in front of a car or merged inappropriately that, although I could've done that sober, still happened and could have ended very differently for me.

Would hate to be killed in an accident and have parents, etc. thinking it was just because I was too high to drive.
 

bella

Well-Known Member
I used to drive while stoned pretty much all the time without a second thought, but roadside drug swabs and my nieces and nephews made me finally stop doing so.

The introduction of roadside testing first got me thinking about the issue. It wasn't just about getting caught but also about the safety aspect. I'd really avoided thinking about it in any depth prior to this.

I would never, ever drive my nieces and nephews anywhere while stoned (and have never done so) and that made me think about other children/people on the roads. Obviously i thought it was okay to drive around other people's children, so why not my nieces and nephews?

I've had a couple of tough conversations with myself this year about my use of mj (the words 'massive hypocrite' and 'irresponsible' came up more than a few times...). I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable about driving while stoned.

I have changed the way i use and think about mj of late and part of this includes only vaping at night and not driving while stoned...
 

seaofgreens

My Mind Is Free
I learned to drive from learners permit on while high. I spent the better part of a decade with my right hand on the steering wheel, gripping a lighter in my knuckles, and my left hand cradling a spoon pipe. I get pulled over and it smells like weed, hey, no problem, it's just my pipe that smells, which I am transporting for medical reasons. Here is my med. card, and good to go.

Then they legalized it, and now if they smell weed they administer a thc test and you get a DUI.... So, no more smoking in the car... well, much more risk when I still smoke in the car... :p
 
seaofgreens,
  • Like
Reactions: GetLeft

His_Highness

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
@srama21 - Right to the point and without rationalizing!

I've been gettin buzzed for 4 decades and with the exception of a few dry times over the years I don't think I've gone longer than a day or two without getting high. I have never gotten high before heading to work or during and hardly ever get high before settling home for the night. My first serious job required a piss test for employment and they also made you take a lie detector test where they asked the 'ever been high at work' question. That job cured me. On the weekends I get most of my honey-do's out of the way before getting my first buzz of the day. What I'm getting at is that if I need to drive somewhere I have ample opportunity to do so when I'm not buzzed.

If I were someone who gets high all day, every day, and decided never to drive high I may as well be saying 'Anyone wanna buy a car'? Unless I could find an alternative mode of travel I'd be fucked. I've never been faced with the choice...drive OR get high because until recently I chose to do both. Having decided not to get behind the wheel high anymore I imagine I'll get to test my conviction soon enough.
 

Quote

Member
I was introduced to heavy cannabis use during the same time that I began to learn how to play Super Smash Brothers for N64. Because of this, I play Smash significantly better when I'm high. Because most would argue that my reflexes would be lowered, my explanation for why I play better is that I am able to see more of the big picture. In my opinion, seeing the big picture is just as important for driving as it is for Smash. If my reflexes actually are lowered (which I don't believe they are, time seems to move at a more steady pace, if that makes sense), my increased ability to see the big picture significantly outweighs lowered reflexes in terms of overall safety. I wouldn't dare sacrifice awareness for response time while behind the wheel of such a deadly machine.

I should include the fact that I'm a heavy and regular consumer, especially since my above thoughts seem likely to be controversial.

My two cents.
 

grokit

well-worn member
Probably just a coincidence :tup:

Since marijuana legalization, highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows


Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of “drugged drivers” on the state’s roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked pot. They also point to studies showing that in other states that have legalized pot for medical purposes, we’ve seen an increase in the number of drivers testing positive for the drug who were involved in fatal car accidents. The anti-pot group SAM recently pointed out that even before the first legal pot store opened in Washington state, the number of drivers in that state testing positive for pot jumped by a third.

The problem with these criticisms is that we can test only for the presence of marijuana metabolites, not for inebriation. Metabolites can linger in the body for days after the drug’s effects wear off — sometimes even for weeks. Because we all metabolize drugs differently (and at different times and under different conditions), all that a positive test tells us is that the driver has smoked pot at some point in the past few days or weeks.

It makes sense that loosening restrictions on pot would result in a higher percentage of drivers involved in fatal traffic accidents having smoked the drug at some point over the past few days or weeks. You’d also expect to find that a higher percentage of churchgoers, good Samaritans and soup kitchen volunteers would have pot in their system. You’d expect a similar result among any large sampling of people. This doesn’t necessarily mean that marijuana caused or was even a contributing factor to accidents, traffic violations or fatalities.

This isn’t an argument that pot wasn’t a factor in at least some of those accidents, either. But that’s precisely the point. A post-accident test for marijuana metabolites doesn’t tell us much at all about whether pot contributed to the accident.

Since the new Colorado law took effect in January, the “drugged driver” panic has only intensified. I’ve already written about one dubious example, in which the Colorado Highway Patrol and some local and national media perpetuated a story that a driver was high on pot when he slammed into a couple of police cars parked on an interstate exit ramp. While the driver did have some pot in his system, his blood-alcohol level was off the charts and was far more likely the cause of the accident. In my colleague Marc Fisher’s recent dispatch from Colorado, law enforcement officials there and in bordering states warned that they’re seeing more drugged drivers. Congress recently held hearings on the matter, complete with dire predictions such as “We are going to have a lot more people stoned on the highway and there will be consequences,” from Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.). Some have called for a zero tolerance policy — if you’re driving with any trace of pot in your system, you’re guilty of a DWI. That would effectively ban anyone who smokes pot from driving for up to a couple of weeks after their last joint, including people who legitimately use the drug for medical reasons.

It seems to me that the best way to gauge the effect legalization has had on the roadways is to look at what has happened on the roads since legalization took effect. Here’s a month-by-month comparison of highway fatalities in Colorado through the first seven months of this year and last year. For a more thorough comparison, I’ve also included the highest fatality figures for each month since 2002, the lowest for each month since 2002 and the average for each month since 2002.

CoTrafficDeaths.jpg

Raw data from the Colorado Dept. of Transportation

As you can see, roadway fatalities this year are down from last year, and down from the 13-year average. Of the seven months so far this year, five months saw a lower fatality figure this year than last, two months saw a slightly higher figure this year, and in one month the two figures were equal. If we add up the total fatalities from January through July, it looks like this:

COTotalDeaths.jpg

Raw data from the Colorado Dept. of Transportation

Here, the “high” bar (pardon the pun) is what you get when you add the worst January since 2002 to the worst February, to the worst March, and so on. The “low” bar is the sum total of the safest January, February, etc., since 2002. What’s notable here is that the totals so far in 2014 are closer to the safest composite year since 2002 than to the average year since 2002. I should also add here that these are total fatalities. If we were to calculate these figures as a rate — say, miles driven per fatality — the drop would be starker, both for this year and since Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2001. While the number of miles Americans drive annually has leveled off nationally since the mid-2000s, the number of total miles traveled continues to go up in Colorado. If we were to measure by rate, then, the state would be at lows unseen in decades.

The figures are similar in states that have legalized medical marijuana. While some studies have shown that the number of drivers involved in fatal collisions who test positive for marijuana has steadily increased as pot has become more available, other studies have shown that overall traffic fatalities in those states have dropped. Again, because the pot tests only measure for recent pot use, not inebriation, there’s nothing inconsistent about those results.

Of course, the continuing drop in roadway fatalities, in Colorado and elsewhere, is due to a variety of factors, such as better-built cars and trucks, improved safety features and better road engineering. These figures in and of themselves only indicate that the roads are getting safer; they don’t suggest that pot had anything to do with it. We’re also only seven months in. Maybe these figures will change. Finally, it’s also possible that if it weren’t for legal pot, the 2014 figures would be even lower. There’s no real way to know that. We can only look at the data available. But you can bet that if fatalities were up this year, prohibition supporters would be blaming it on legal marijuana. (Interestingly, though road fatalities have generally been falling in Colorado for a long time, 2013 actually saw a slight increase from 2012. So fatalities are down the year after legalization, after having gone up the year before.)

That said, some researchers have gone so far as to suggest that better access to pot is making the roads safer, at least marginally. The theory is that people are substituting pot for alcohol, and pot causes less driver impairment than booze. I’d need to see more studies before I’d be ready to endorse that theory. For example, there’s also some research contradicting the theory that drinkers are ready to substitute pot for alcohol.

But the data are far more supportive of that than of the claims that stoned drivers are menacing Colorado’s roadways.

CLARIFICATION: I wrote that “we can test only for the presence of marijuana metabolites, not for inebriation.” That isn’t quite accurate. This is true of roadside tests. But a blood test taken at a hospitals can measure for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. That said, even here there are problems. Regular users can have still have remnant THC in their blood well after the effects have worn off. Regular users can also have levels above the legal limit and still drive perfectly well. In Colorado, a THC level of 5 nano grams or more brings a presumptive charge of driving under the influence. However, references to “marijuana-related” accidents in studies, by prohibitionists, and by law enforcement could refer to any measure or trace of the drug. So when officials and legalization opponents talk about increases in these figures, it still isn’t clear what any of this means for road safety.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...lities-in-colorado-are-at-near-historic-lows/
 

EverythingsHazy

Well-Known Member
Probably just a coincidence :tup:

Since marijuana legalization, highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows


Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of “drugged drivers” on the state’s roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked pot. They also point to studies showing that in other states that have legalized pot for medical purposes, we’ve seen an increase in the number of drivers testing positive for the drug who were involved in fatal car accidents. The anti-pot group SAM recently pointed out that even before the first legal pot store opened in Washington state, the number of drivers in that state testing positive for pot jumped by a third.

Since the new Colorado law took effect in January, the “drugged driver” panic has only intensified. I’ve already written about one dubious example, in which the Colorado Highway Patrol and some local and national media perpetuated a story that a driver was high on pot when he slammed into a couple of police cars parked on an interstate exit ramp. While the driver did have some pot in his system, his blood-alcohol level was off the charts and was far more likely the cause of the accident. In my colleague Marc Fisher’s recent dispatch from Colorado, law enforcement officials there and in bordering states warned that they’re seeing more drugged drivers. Congress recently held hearings on the matter, complete with dire predictions such as “We are going to have a lot more people stoned on the highway and there will be consequences,” from Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.). Some have called for a zero tolerance policy — if you’re driving with any trace of pot in your system, you’re guilty of a DWI. That would effectively ban anyone who smokes pot from driving for up to a couple of weeks after their last joint, including people who legitimately use the drug for medical reasons.

It seems to me that the best way to gauge the effect legalization has had on the roadways is to look at what has happened on the roads since legalization took effect. Here’s a month-by-month comparison of highway fatalities in Colorado through the first seven months of this year and last year. For a more thorough comparison, I’ve also included the highest fatality figures for each month since 2002, the lowest for each month since 2002 and the average for each month since 2002.

CoTrafficDeaths.jpg

Raw data from the Colorado Dept. of Transportation

As you can see, roadway fatalities this year are down from last year, and down from the 13-year average. Of the seven months so far this year, five months saw a lower fatality figure this year than last, two months saw a slightly higher figure this year, and in one month the two figures were equal. If we add up the total fatalities from January through July, it looks like this:

COTotalDeaths.jpg

That's interesting. Correlation definitely does not equal causation, but it is a cool correlation nonetheless, and I am curious about the cause.

Just a fun correlation=/=causation demonstration:

(This correlation might actually be caused by a temperature increase.)
enhanced-buzz-1676-1365534330-0.jpg


enhanced-buzz-1129-1365534361-10.jpg


enhanced-buzz-28930-1365534705-8.jpg
 

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
I really worry if I'm ever in an accident I will be tested for cannabis. Even if I hadn't used any cannabis that day, I would test positive. Therefore I would be in a lot of trouble, similar if I would have been driving and drinking. I would get a DUI. This wasn't an issue as much before cannabis was legal in my state. The authorities seem to be looking for this.

I wish it was only medical cannabis that was legal. I never thought I would feel that way. The medical users are so fucked in WA.

Generally I wait a few hours before driving after using cannabis. I've started to drive somewhere and have turned around within a half a mile and gone back home before.
 
Last edited:
I always wait at least 60 minutes after vaping, and since I'm a micro-doser, driving impaired isn't usually an issue. However, I have some AC/DC strain that is 0.6% THC and 16% CBD that I use and it seems to clear my head and bring me down, if necessary. I highly, yuck yuck, recommend it.
 

Philreal187

Well-Known Member
When I was younger a burn run was the best way to smoke. Just drive 10 mins hit up a back road and spark up. We would actually toss an extra $5 to our dude we bought off and he would take us on a br in his ridiculous old school 80s style van he drove. On top of burn runs smoking on the way to eat, catch a movie, and even shopping was quite common practice among my friends and I.

Fast forward to about 5 to 6 years ago...
I had a terribly shitty day at work and to make up for it I went to the parking lot and fired up a bowl on the clock. I get pretty close to done I completely forgotten about all the bull shit of the day and went up to my work to clock out. So I'm headed the normal route home with the bowl in my hand and lighter in the other driving down the highway at night. I seen a cop had a person pulled over I think nothing of it and cruz right by. I glance back and he has his lights on and he is now following me!! I was in the oh shit mode heart racing I put the bowl in the side compartment on the door. (I forgot to mention this was my grams car I was borrowing since my engine blew in my car just a few weeks prior.) So I pull over he does the routine spill. I give him my info, and he proceeds to ask how much I have.. I play dumb and ask him what he means he keeps asking and threatened to have the dogs come. At this point I tell him I have a bowl with not even a worth while hit left in the side of the door. Which happens to be directly under his nose. He ask me to show him, he takes it and slaps me in cuffs. Then ask if I have any more, I tell him no. He ask can he search the car I say yeah. He puts me in the front seat of his cop car and turns the dashboard cam at me. So no camera was filming his search of my car. He comes back empty handed. Thank god he didnt plant any "evidence". So he proceeds to read me my rights. He told me that because my pupils didn't dilate fast enough I was clearly intoxicated and had to have a blood sample given to determine my level of thc in my blood stream. I tell him I have thin blood and dont wanna give a sample. He told me that refusal results in agreement to being at the highest level of intoxication and would automatically lose my license for a year. So I gave in to the system and he drove me still in the front seat handcuffed behind my back to the closest er to give two vials of blood. I pleaded with him to not tow my grams car and he drove me back to go and get the car home. Long story short I got slapped with a dui. This was just the middle part of a series of bad choices I made in my life at that time which lead to me totaling my moms car the night before mothers day while drive home from work extremely drunk.

I have wrecked my car 5 times and totalled two cars all from drinking. One was my moms car I totalled other was my crv this last January. I have since stopped drinking and driving. I will have a few brews with friends but never more than 3 beers and thats at the very least a 3 hour time span. I have really had my fair share of wake up calls and the last one was the biggest in January.

All that being said I have never wrecked from being high. I will still travel with my haze and use on the way to eat or see a movie or just for long rides on vacation or where ever. I guess old habits die hard. But honestly this thread has me reflecting upon my decisions. I cannot get a second dui. I have a path in life I am pursuing with an amazing gf by my side. Knowing this it's time to make the right choices and not risk my life that has going so well as of lately for a quick vape session.

I really have to think twice now before I reach for my haze and have a session behind the wheel.

Thank you everyone that has shared there opinions and stories about driving while high.
 

seaofgreens

My Mind Is Free
Refusal never equates to agreement. You always had/have the right to remain silent and only communicate when you had a lawyer present. The officer was just getting you to admit guilt, because ipso facto, by agreeing that you wanted to be tested to see "how intoxicated," your levels were to supposedly avoid a harsher punishment, you also self incriminate. You were in fact admitting being intoxicated to some extent, so the officer can then write that in his little report and the prosecutor has zero effort in screwing you over. Without saying anything, the incident could have been spun numerous other ways.
 

Philreal187

Well-Known Member
Without derailing the thread too much sorry in advance.

From what I remember because this was over 5 years ago and my memory sucks. He asked if I was smoking while driving I said no. I explained how I had a rough day at work and smoked after work to help my keep me calm and clear my mind. Because I happened to have some dank to smoke that day the car still reeked. So I did admit to using, I was looking to avoid drawing blood for personal rights and freedom. I thought by admitting was enought and I would accep my charges, but I didn't like being forced to give blood. I was definitely scared knowing I was in my grams car and was hoping being honest and straight forward would help. Unfortunately this was a state corporal trooper and he knew he had the upper hand. If I was confident that I new my rights and had money maybe I could have tried to fight something. But I'm broke and dont know anyone who knows lawyers. In Pittsburgh PA the dui program that first time offenders get is a quick and huge money game. They are known to have full court rooms of people 80 plus pleading guilty and accepting the ard program.

In the end everything happens for a reason. It later all made sense to me that I was supposed to be in these mandatory classes and aa meetings. I had really heard incredible eye opening stories. I also learned the science behind alcohol and the brain. All this played huge factors in my life and helped me stop recklessly driving home sometimes closing one eye to not see double, and even blacking out and driving home. To have gotten away unharmed with all the terrible choices I made, I know someone or something was helping me out and watching over. Im a firm believer everything that happens in life is meant to happen and build u to the person u r meant to be. I very grateful to have got that dui from a bowl with ash.
 

h3rbalist

I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too
I spend most of my working day behind the wheel and I wouldn't even consider getting high.


Yet, once or twice a month I think I'm cool to drive a couple of miles home from a friends house high as a kite. And I don't know why? :shrug:

You guys have me asking questions of myself, especially @His_Highness

Good work.
 

WakeAndVape

VapeLife X
I was just talking about this today with some friends...

I get high as fuck while I drive!

Reading this thread is making me feel semi bad, but I will still probably do it.

I have been pulled over driving while black a bunch of times, the cops almost expect the weed but look for the cocaine or harder shit.

I've had cops give back my weed after searching me.

I take dabs sometime while entering the freeway.

My car smells like my habit.

I JUST drove an hour and a half off an edible two dabs and a bowl in the crafty all while behind the wheel.

I don't get road rage and I'm always courteous to other drivers!

I'm going to hell...
 

Nugg

Well-Known Member
When I was 16 - 20 I would drive sober, high or a few drinks down but cops couldn't test for weed then. My excuse was 'I concentrate harder'. On road trips and long drives the passenger would hold the wheel while the driver smoked a bong.

Lost my license for a year when I was 20 because of 3 speeding fines over that 5 year period. When I got my license back I had a 5 month old baby and my priorities had changed. The cops could also now do a mouth swab to test for drugs.

Those 2 things made me stop driving while high. First offense you lose 6 demerit points and get a $1000 fine.

I will let my mates drive me around while we are all high because it means I still get to go have fun with them. I pretty much only drive my mates somewhere if I'm taking my dirtbike along. Its hard hanging out watching my mates smoke up with out me but it beats being broke at home and unable to provide for my family.

If people know their limits I don't really have a problem with them driving high. I don't know how I feel about dabs while driving tho, more of a safety issue than anything lol. Imagine a hot nail on the loose in the car!

I will sometimes finish a vape sesh at midnight before bed and then drive at 630. Would probably still get picked up by a mouth swab but I'm not impaired.

I also have an awesome wife who will drive me around on the weekend if I've had a vape. Or I get my missions done early in the day and vape my ass off when I get home.
 
Top Bottom