Driving whilst high

[CarolKing]

Washington State troopers are ramping up efforts to enforce a new portion of the state's marijuana law, which makes it illegal to have an open container of pot in your car.

The law went into affect on Sept. 26 and is similar to the state's alcohol open container law.

The law states that marijuana must be in its original sealed package and stored in the trunk of your car or behind the backseat. It also extends to pot-infused edibles.

Driving with an open container of pot is a traffic infraction that carries an $136 dollar fine.

Troopers say that they are seeing an increasing number of drivers with marijuana.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission pushed for the change so that the state's rules governing marijuana would more closely resemble those for alcohol, which prohibits unsealed or partially consumed containers of alcohol in the passenger cabin of a vehicle.

It doesn't look like high quality cannabis. I have a car that doesn't have a trunk, that would mean I would keep it in a container in the furthest location from the driver. I keep mine generally in a Cvault when I have gone shopping. What I understand is that the police would need s search warrant to open it.

EDIT
$136 is a cheap ticket. If caught using while driving it would be different. That would be a DUI. Unless the officer decided to make you take a drug test even if you weren't caught using it but the car smelled of cannabis so that gave him reason. I'm not a lawyer but I better do some research maybe.

Be smart and transport cannabis in a smell proof container.

 

[His_Highness]

Those 2 'legal' folk are an example of those of us who were at it for a long time. Contrast them with a younger demographic or someone who doesn't have the long term experience or tolerance build. You can also bet these folks never took, or take, a T-break so they must have a massive tolerance . I can't help but wonder what would happen if there were an accident while he was puffing away though.......

I think these 2 folks have done a decent job of representing the medical MJ community and by relation the soon to be legal community. Plainly put....they have been representing ME and I appreciate them doing it in a serious manner. They spoke with intelligence, have shown to be 'successful members of society' and limited any smart ass, rubbing everyone's face in being able to do something considered anti-establishment. Good for them and good for us!

 

[EverythingsHazy]

That is your opinion only that it is not very considerate and that is based on the opinion that you do not feel it is safe to drive whilst high.

It's not only my opinion, tho. The same way he doesn't smoke around his softball teammates because some of them might have a negative opinion of cannabis, he shouldn't smoke and drive, where a lot of others on the road have a negative opinion of cannabis use while driving.

Also, either the guy needs to smoke all the time, or he doesn't. and if he doesn't, then why should he be allowed to while driving? It shouldn't be based on his judgments of courtesy. If you NEED medicine, you don't not take it because there are kids around. He could easily go outside and smoke a joint for a minute, or eat an edible, if he needs to constantly be high. If he is unaffected enough to drive around other people's kids while smoking, he should be unaffected enough to discretely (for politeness sake) teach other people's kids how to sail.

 

[MoltenTiger]

It's not only my opinion, tho

It's only the opinion of someone who isn't accepting reputable information, lacks personal experience, has monetary incentive to believe so or is in denial about their own abilities.
Unfortunately most people fall under these categories, including nearly all law enforcers.
It's a total bias due to ingrained belief.

I stumbled upon this this morning:
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/stories/s4313707.htm

There's a Soundcloud link in the article, well worth a listen.
It's an Australian radio talk show talking to the public, a health professional and also a police officer about the issue of cannabis road side testing.

Reefer madness needs to end!!
It's driving me mad.

I agree, the idea of getting 'messed up' before driving is a stupid, very illegal activity. You can't argue against that, no one will or is.
I don't believe being stoned as a stoner counts as being messed up.
Although I understand why most would, they just don't have the perspective to understand.
And who are they to?
Fact is: everyone consuming cannabis is at risk, in the 1728 hours after consumption, of being convicted of drug driving.
That is absolute reefer insanity.

The official recommendation is to choose between using or driving.
The social message is not discreet. I truly believe this medicine can change the world but so to do the comfortable powers that be.
Cars will never be safe, but social improvement is achievable always.
A mobile population of happy users is safer than the reality: erratic users with limited attention spans.
My country has a depression rate in adults of 17%, the stats on fatalities caused by suicide is chilling.
My country has one of the highest rates of methamphetamine use per capita in the world, about 2.5% of people older than 14 are active users.
Cannabis could be a very successful reducing agent to the risks these sectors pose to themselves and others - both on and off the road.

Not a single driver on the road is in perfect condition to drive. How could they be?
When we know the correlations to harm are low to begin with, we shouldn't search for cannabis over the millions of other potential risks. It's not causing accidents. Something else is at play here and it smells like money. Only two providers of tests and they run $40 a pop. Both are provably unreliable.
Marketing spiel shouldn't breach government, that's a real preventable danger.

I will cap this off with this great quote from Michael Balderstone of the Nimbin Hemp Embassy;
"Choosing between suffering disease or driving a car will be easy for some people while others contemplate their level of freedom".

 

[grokit]

Maybe the dude goes and smokes in his parked car, in between innings.
Being considerate, and bothering nobody.
Just sayin'

 

[EverythingsHazy]

It's only the opinion of someone who isn't accepting reputable information, lacks personal experience, has monetary incentive to believe so or is in denial about their own abilities.
Unfortunately most people fall under these categories, including nearly all law enforcers.
It's a total bias due to ingrained belief.

I stumbled upon this this morning:
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/stories/s4313707.htm

There's a Soundcloud link in the article, well worth a listen.
It's an Australian radio talk show talking to the public, a health professional and also a police officer about the issue of cannabis road side testing.

Reefer madness needs to end!!
It's driving me mad.

I agree, the idea of getting 'messed up' before driving is a stupid, very illegal activity. You can't argue against that, no one will or is.
I don't believe being stoned as a stoner counts as being messed up.
Although I understand why most would, they just don't have the perspective to understand.
And who are they to?
Fact is: everyone consuming cannabis is at risk, in the 1728 hours after consumption, of being convicted of drug driving.
That is absolute reefer insanity.

The official recommendation is to choose between using or driving.
The social message is not discreet. I truly believe this medicine can change the world but so to do the comfortable powers that be.
Cars will never be safe, but social improvement is achievable always.
A mobile population of happy users is safer than the reality: erratic users with limited attention spans.
My country has a depression rate in adults of 17%, the stats on fatalities caused by suicide is chilling.
My country has one of the highest rates of methamphetamine use per capita in the world, about 2.5% of people older than 14 are active users.
Cannabis could be a very successful reducing agent to the risks these sectors pose to themselves and others - both on and off the road.

Not a single driver on the road is in perfect condition to drive. How could they be?
When we know the correlations to harm are low to begin with, we shouldn't search for cannabis over the millions of other potential risks. It's not causing accidents. Something else is at play here and it smells like money. Only two providers of tests and they run $40 a pop. Both are provably unreliable.
Marketing spiel shouldn't breach government, that's a real preventable danger.

I will cap this off with this great quote from Michael Balderstone of the Nimbin Hemp Embassy;
"Choosing between suffering disease or driving a car will be easy for some people while others contemplate their level of freedom".

There is no proof that weed helps or doesn't harm driving aside from these half assed studies that all have different results. There IS proof of people taking a hit and having their vision go fuzzy for a moment.

His case isn't even only about driving high. It's about getting high while driving, which is just stupid. Thinking that's ok and safe shouldn't even be acceptable as an opinion. The head rush from a hit is unpredictable, and not something you should have while driving.


Also, using the "cannabis is a lesser poison than (tiredness/alcohol/meth/depression/etc.)" is faulty arguing.
I could get away with anything if all I had to do was find something worse that exists.


At this point, I'm not even arguing the "don't drive while high" point, as much as the don't GET high while driving. I see even less need to bend on this stance than my driving high one.

Maybe the dude goes and smokes in his parked car, in between innings.
Being considerate, and bothering nobody.
Just sayin'

It says he waits till the post game beer drinking to smoke.

Regardless tho, he shouldn't be able to play sports if he is in so much pain that he can't drive without a joint in his hand.

 

[Snappo]

Adult ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is ameliorated greatly by herb i.e., specialized focus is enhanced without the distractions. A driver's experience speaks...

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Adult Add (Attention Deficit Disorder) is ameliorated greatly by herb a/k/a specialized focus is enhanced without the distractions. A driver's experience speaks...

Specialized focus isn't always a good thing tho. It can cause you to be too focused on one thing and get blindsided by another.

Not saying that being high can't help some people with ADD to drive better than without, but that would require much more testing than just people claiming they focus better while high.

Also, those people wouldn't need to smoke while driving. They could take a hit and then get in the car.

 

[Snappo]

Specialized focus isn't always a good thing tho. It can cause you to be too focused on one thing and get blindsided by another.

Not saying that being high can't help some people with ADD to drive better than without, but that would require much more testing than just people claiming they focus better while high.

Also, those people wouldn't need to smoke while driving. They could take a hit and then get in the car.

I appreciate your perspective, but in this regard I'll rely on my own anecdotal evidence over whatever testing has been done or comes along.

 

[Socks And Sandals]

Driving while High? Absolutely Not.. I prefer to show some personal responsibility and not drive while impaired. While my MJ tolerance is high enough not to worry about it.. Does that mean I would do it? No! None of this is worth losing my freedom over or putting anyone's lives at risk Period!

This all sounds like High School stuff to me. Since the last time I drove while high.. I had 8 heads in the back of my pick up truck driving down the 5 freeway to magic mountain while passing around my glass spoon in my senior year field trip in 1992. Looking back on it now.. I chalk it all up to being young, dumb and stupid.

 

[stressed]

when i was young i drove high a lot. high, not stoned.

i was careful and usually kept in mind that i was high and that i needed to be aware of what i was doing but i can still recall stopping at green lights...

now that i'm old and a bit less of a pinhead, i try to never drive high. i uber as needed.

i've been legal for years and i can drive with 2.5 oz in my car but i still only carry a little bit and hide it like the good old days. i'm not going to poke the bear in the cop car by toking and driving.

 

[theCerberus]

ugh. guilt trip after guilt trip.

someone please provide statistical proof that driving high is causing accidents.

you think MADD was fueled solely by social justice? they had facts to help them pass laws....
they had stats proving alcohol was a problem.

If you dont feel like you can drive thats another story. Use your judgement and dont.

But a lot of medical users DO NOT FEEL IMPAIRED when high.
They can drive just fine and can prove it.
Equating intoxication to physical impairment is wrong.

You can test someones physical impairments!
There's even multiple videos of road tests with high drivers to prove they can drive fine up until a ridiculous point of consumption where the drivers THEMSELVES ADMIT to not wanting to drive.

THE SELF JUDGEMENT WORKS and there is evidence to prove it.
IT IS THE PHARMACEUTICAL RESPONSE THAT YOU MUST ACCEPT!
Know how the drug effects you before driving.
If pharmacists say that about opiates then there's nothing wrong with saying that about other narcotics.

 

[grokit]

Who's gonna test the testers?

 

[ZC]

I'm coming around to the idea that many users, especially medical users, may not be impaired while driving but I'm not sure I buy the idea that self-judgement is the answer. Lots of alcohol users also think their fine to drive when they aren't. Maybe self-judgement is easier with cannabis, but it's still not an acceptable metric for the general public. Plenty of people have awful judgement in general, and I'm not trusting them to judge their own abilities while high.

But I'm not saying I know the solution. We all know measuring the THC in your blood is practically useless, because everyone's tolerance is different, and THC in the blood is not the same as THC effecting the user. Maybe a field sobriety test is the only reliable solution for now.

 

[CarolKing]

A lot of medical users out there don't all "get high". They are trying to live their lives while dealing with some intensive medical conditions. Living their lives include trying to make a living. That may include driving if they aren't fortunate enough to live on a bus line or rich enough to call a taxi. We are all adults and need to make that decision for ourselves.

I have stated that I've left my home and felt I needed to turn around within a 1/2 a mile of my house and come home because I didn't feel fit to drive. I make my own decisions and so does everyone else here. I'm not going to be telling others what I think might be best for them because I don't know. I have heard some heart felt stories of FCers just trying to live their lives without throwing up or just being able to move their arms and legs without pain and muscle spasms.

Some folks seem to think that everyone just uses cannabis recreationally. That's not true in all our cases.

EDIT
I'm not much of a drinker anymore because it makes my condition worse. I have had a drink or two in my life. I never even would have one drink and drive though. Alcohol is different than cannabis for a regular user. If you never use cannabis it has a way different effect than someone who uses it every day. I think common sense is the key. If you are a teen common sense may not happen.

 

[KimDracula]

I think most of us know when we are impaired and cannabis just doesn't impair judgment the way alcohol does. Impairment is the issue, not whether or not you used before driving. In any case, driving while high on cannabis just hasn't been shown to be a significant contributor to harm. A wide range of common pharmaceuticals have been shown to be potentially more dangerous than cannabis. Of course, that doesn't mean that you won't fall victim to some arbitrary law that doesn't simply assume your impairment if you are caught in an unlucky situation through no fault of your own, so we have to weigh certain risks sometimes depending on the level of ignorance in our respective local laws.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

I'm not going to debate the driving while high issue anymore, because people who want to do it will just claim it's ok / do it anyway.

What I will say, is that Self-Judgment is a horrible standard measurement to use. As @ZC said, a lot of people think they are fine to drive after a drink or two. Regardless if that seems stupid to you, their self-judgment says its ok.

A new question I have now after reading the article about that guy who legally smokes all the time, and reading some responses here, is:

Do you people think it's ok to smoke/vape/eat cannabis or otherwise get high/stoned/medicated WHILE driving? Not before driving. While driving. Are you cool with people puffing joints while sitting behind the wheel?

I say no, because there is no point, and it's a distraction with potential vision blurring/ head rush causing effects. If you need to be high all the time, then you can park for a minute, stpe out of the car, toke,and get back in. I'm not saying I agree with driving high (I still don't), but if it's legal, I still don't think getting high while driving should be.

 

[nosmoking]

Do you people think it's ok to smoke/vape/eat cannabis or otherwise get high/stoned/medicated WHILE driving? Not before driving. While driving. Are you cool with people puffing joints while sitting behind the wheel?

I say no, because there is no point, and it's a distraction with potential vision blurring/ head rush causing effects. If you need to be high all the time, then you can park for a minute, stpe out of the car, toke,and get back in. I'm not saying I agree with driving high (I still don't), but if it's legal, I still don't think getting high while driving should be.

Not everyone gets that vision blurring/head rush causing effect. I know I don't. Some vaporizers are so simple, like the ESV for instance that you could take a hit while driving with one hand without ever looking at the device or pushing a button. A cigarette or radio would be more distracting honestly. I'm not saying that my points are enough to validate driving and get high at the same time, but I am saying that I don't think your points are necessarily that valid either.

 

[RUDE BOY]

I Have a neighbor who doesn't drink or drug at all who just lost his license due to too many tickets/points for distracted/reckless driving.

Some people just shouldn't drive no matter what... but they have no problem passing a driving test that has nothing to do with operating a vehicle in the real world, there really is no way to get Stupid 'n' dangerous drivers off the road that I can see until they get caught doing something dumb enough or often enough to lose the privilege to drive, just watch your ass and be careful while driving to stay outta their way to stay safe.


But I also would say being overly paranoid of other drivers faults while your behind the wheel tends to make one an unsafe driver too.

 

[JCat]

I'm coming around to the idea that many users, especially medical users, may not be impaired while driving but I'm not sure I buy the idea that self-judgement is the answer. Lots of alcohol users also think their fine to drive when they aren't. Maybe self-judgement is easier with cannabis, but it's still not an acceptable metric for the general public. Plenty of people have awful judgement in general, and I'm not trusting them to judge their own abilities while high.

But I'm not saying I know the solution. We all know measuring the THC in your blood is practically useless, because everyone's tolerance is different, and THC in the blood is not the same as THC effecting the user. Maybe a field sobriety test is the only reliable solution for now.

Alcohol users are not a good metric to measure against cannabis users. Cannabis users tend to proceed with more caution as with alcohol, caution goes to the wind (take it from someone who's dealt with alcohol problems and now uses cannabis medicinally). You lie to yourself when you're drinking about your capacity to drive, but by the next day, you know in your mind/gut that that's what you were doing (lying to yourself). I've never come home as a medical user of cannabis and woken up the next day thinking "why did I drive?".

Back when I was a teenager and consumed too much hash and had to drive 60km home in a snow storm, and was really freaked out, I shouldn't have been behind the wheel. I did not consume daily at the time nor for medical reasons. The next day, and during the experience, I knew I shouldn't be driving. Since I've been 21-22 (>15 years going on 20), I cannot think of a similar situation where I woke up the next day and thought to myself, "how could I be driving?" I drive perfectly well when consuming cannabis (I'm not going to drive after vaping a bunch of concentrates or a gram or 2 of cannabis, but I know my limits and don't generally do those things anyways ... my general session is between .15g and .3g)

 

[theCerberus]

What I will say, is that Self-Judgment is a horrible standard measurement to use.

Then why does every pharmacist say to know how the drug effects you before driving?
People who think they can drive after alcohol know they cant. They know they are impaired. And they do it anyways. But the difference is we know they also cause accidents because they show up in statistics....
I asked before. where are the stats proving self-judgement isnt working?

 

[killick]

I'm absolutely fine with my driving. Having said that I no longer live in an urban centre. Our town has 3 traffic lights, and I have to drive 30 minutes to get there.

On long highway trips I I vape while driving. Otherwise it's not a long highway trip, it's a bunch of short drives that take a few extra days to make it.

If you don't trust your own driving don't do it. @EverythingsHazy it sounds like you aren't a med user. If you get ripped when you touch mm you probably shouldn't drive. Your also could probably stop judging everyone else with your own metric. We all get it, you don't like it. So if you are going to say you are not going to debate it any more, that means the rest of your comment is purely judgemental, and no one needs to be judged by someone who doesn't know their individual circumstances.

 

[KimDracula]

I'm not going to debate the driving while high issue anymore, because people who want to do it will just claim it's ok / do it anyway.

What I will say, is that Self-Judgment is a horrible standard measurement to use. As @ZC said, a lot of people think they are fine to drive after a drink or two. Regardless if that seems stupid to you, their self-judgment says its ok.

A new question I have now after reading the article about that guy who legally smokes all the time, and reading some responses here, is:

Do you people think it's ok to smoke/vape/eat cannabis or otherwise get high/stoned/medicated WHILE driving? Not before driving. While driving. Are you cool with people puffing joints while sitting behind the wheel?

I say no, because there is no point, and it's a distraction with potential vision blurring/ head rush causing effects. If you need to be high all the time, then you can park for a minute, stpe out of the car, toke,and get back in. I'm not saying I agree with driving high (I still don't), but if it's legal, I still don't think getting high while driving should be.

Self-judgment is always the standard used, or are we going to never drive given that there will always be a variable that could possibly affect our abilities? What about Rx or OTC medicines? How much do I need to have slept before I can drive since I can't trust my judgment? How about hydration and having eaten properly? How do I know if I'm safe to drive if I don't look to my judgment? Where is the checklist for me to be safe?

The quote does, of course, also equate the effects of drinking on judgment to the effects of cannabis on the same, which is thoroughly fallacious and misleading.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Everyone who just replied didn't answer the question... It wasn't what you felt about driving high. It was if you thought getting high while driving was also ok.

If you don't trust your own driving don't do it. @EverythingsHazy it sounds like you aren't a med user. If you get ripped when you touch mm you probably shouldn't drive. Your also could probably stop judging everyone else with your own metric. We all get it, you don't like it. So if you are going to say you are not going to debate it any more, that means the rest of your comment is purely judgemental, and no one needs to be judged by someone who doesn't know their individual circumstances.

1. Don't assume things.

2. I said I wasn't debating anymore and cleared up that I still didn't agree, so that the rest of my post wouldn't make it seem like I changed my mind. I just wasn't going to comment on that issue anymore.

 

[killick]

Fair enough. People that trust themselves will likely continue to trust themselves, idiots that don't know any better will continue to do so, and other responsible people will continue to be responsible in their own way.

For the record ive not had an accident for a great many years (hit by a Czech au pair in a roundabout in the UK. She was going the wrong way) and the last speeding ticket was 6 or 7 years ago, due to missing a speed change sign - got let off with a warning.

A LEO buddy once told me a great rule of thumb - if your are going to do something dumb try to limit it to one thing, for example if you are drinking, don't speed. If you are speeding don't smoke weed. Try stick to just one dumb thing at a time and with a bit of luck nothing will happen. The more invitations you provide the more they will accept...