Pot sobriety test
September 28, 2018 4:36 PM Subscribe
With legalization imminent in Canada, the RCMP has been working out procedures for a roadside pot sobriety test. [SLYT]
Lol, sure, but real talk here: I fully expect that the driving accident rates (along with drug overdoses and some types of violence) in this country are going to plummet.
posted by mhoye at 4:53 PM on September 28, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 4:53 PM on September 28, 2018 [12 favorites]
I fully expect that the driving accident rates (along with drug overdoses and some types of violence) in this country are going to plummet.
perhaps, but there is for sure such a thing as too high to drive
posted by thelonius at 5:43 PM on September 28, 2018 [16 favorites]
perhaps, but there is for sure such a thing as too high to drive
posted by thelonius at 5:43 PM on September 28, 2018 [16 favorites]
Allegedly, all you need to do to defeat the device is briefly gargle & spit with some 3% hyrdrogen peroxide solution.
posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 5:47 PM on September 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 5:47 PM on September 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
What about the antis? ( anxiolytics, psychotics, anti depressants) ? What about sleeping pills muscle relaxants and migraine meds?
All have fx on reaction time and all are protected from roadside checks by big pharmy because otherwise that would be anti-sales growth.
That's what.
posted by Fupped Duck at 5:50 PM on September 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
All have fx on reaction time and all are protected from roadside checks by big pharmy because otherwise that would be anti-sales growth.
That's what.
posted by Fupped Duck at 5:50 PM on September 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
I fully expect that the driving accident rates (along with drug overdoses and some types of violence) in this country are going to plummet.
Well, there are already studies done on this in states that have legalized in the US. I assume results in Canada would be similar.
And they find pretty much what I would have guessed - somewhere between no effect and a very small effect on crash rates.
You can absolutely be too high to drive (hell, you can be too high to walk). On the other hand, its certainly not going to cause the accident rates that alcohol does.
But really, you shouldn't drive while tired, angry, drunk, high, texting or many other things. Some worse than others.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:09 PM on September 28, 2018 [20 favorites]
Well, there are already studies done on this in states that have legalized in the US. I assume results in Canada would be similar.
And they find pretty much what I would have guessed - somewhere between no effect and a very small effect on crash rates.
You can absolutely be too high to drive (hell, you can be too high to walk). On the other hand, its certainly not going to cause the accident rates that alcohol does.
But really, you shouldn't drive while tired, angry, drunk, high, texting or many other things. Some worse than others.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:09 PM on September 28, 2018 [20 favorites]
What about the antis? ( anxiolytics, psychotics, anti depressants) ? What about sleeping pills muscle relaxants and migraine meds?
How about we actively dismantle car culture? Motorists kill and injure tens of thousands of people every year in North America. Automobiles are the single greatest source of GHGs.
Kill cars.
posted by JamesBay at 6:09 PM on September 28, 2018 [37 favorites]
How about we actively dismantle car culture? Motorists kill and injure tens of thousands of people every year in North America. Automobiles are the single greatest source of GHGs.
Kill cars.
posted by JamesBay at 6:09 PM on September 28, 2018 [37 favorites]
I’ve seen the clip before; it still made me laugh. What I love best about this protracted legalization is that it is just non-stop dad jokes in the media with punny headlines and the weirdest tangents as various reporters are trying to find their angles. There has been relatively little fear-mongering and it has become socially acceptable (in social-economic groups that previously had been discrete) very fast.
posted by saucysault at 6:24 PM on September 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by saucysault at 6:24 PM on September 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Remember “don’t drink and drive” ?
I favor “drink, don’t drive!”
Because cars are a huge problem, they kill lots of people and destroy our environment. Imagine every year, every man woman and child in South Carolina gets injured in a car accident, and the entire town of Hilton Head is killed. That’s the damage we tolerate and largely ignore every year here in the USA.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:26 PM on September 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
I favor “drink, don’t drive!”
Because cars are a huge problem, they kill lots of people and destroy our environment. Imagine every year, every man woman and child in South Carolina gets injured in a car accident, and the entire town of Hilton Head is killed. That’s the damage we tolerate and largely ignore every year here in the USA.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:26 PM on September 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Hand the suspect a pack of Twinkies and time how long it takes them to polish them off.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:49 PM on September 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 6:49 PM on September 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
it's the mixing of booze with marijuana etc that concerns me. Stoned drivers tend to be more careful. They may not remember their drive home, but they probably did it carefully. A couple or three drinks topped off with a few tokes of strong marijuana -- that can get you to the wrong sort oblivion.
posted by philip-random at 6:54 PM on September 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 6:54 PM on September 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
I‘m not even a stoner but this thread feels like a little bit of cannabis consumption could be helpful for some people...
posted by The Toad at 8:04 PM on September 28, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by The Toad at 8:04 PM on September 28, 2018 [17 favorites]
Mod note: Let's not derail into jeremiads about cars and car culture in general.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:04 PM on September 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:04 PM on September 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
Not gonna lie. I had one of those "i didn't expect to laugh burst out loud when everyone else is asleep" laughs at the kazoo.
posted by chasles at 8:15 PM on September 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by chasles at 8:15 PM on September 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
6. Chips, please.
Okay, dude. (starts tunelessly shouting CHiPs theme)
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:23 PM on September 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
Okay, dude. (starts tunelessly shouting CHiPs theme)
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 8:23 PM on September 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
MetaFilter:did I watch the same video as everyone else?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:49 PM on September 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:49 PM on September 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
Only Canadians could pull somebody over for not driving.
posted by chavenet at 2:24 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 2:24 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sorry I don't have the link, but there was a peer-reviewed study that unexpectedly showed that cannabis improved driving skills. For an hour or two, then it dropped, as the effects of the cannabis wore off.
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:27 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:27 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
This is anecdotal, but my father—an ER doctor of 35 years' standing—mentioned recently that stoned drivers are just not something that he sees in his emergency room. Drunk drivers, sure, all the time. Stoned drivers, no.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:12 AM on September 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:12 AM on September 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
I am not proud of this, but I once drove so stoned I had the sense that oncoming traffic and parked cars either side of me were going in my eyeballs and out the back of my head as I went past them. So you can definitely be too stoned to drive, but at least I had the sense to hastily pull over, I'm not sure I would have if I'd been equivalently drunk.
posted by deadwax at 5:03 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by deadwax at 5:03 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
> Thorzdad:
"Hand the suspect a pack of Twinkies and time how long it takes them to polish them off."
Now, talk a pack of Hostess cupcakes... Well go ahead and cuff me.
posted by Samizdata at 5:16 AM on September 29, 2018
"Hand the suspect a pack of Twinkies and time how long it takes them to polish them off."
Now, talk a pack of Hostess cupcakes... Well go ahead and cuff me.
posted by Samizdata at 5:16 AM on September 29, 2018
there is for sure such a thing as too high to drive
Even low levels of alcohol can encourage dangerous and deliberate stunt driving, whereas marijuana tends to make one a bit more cautious. But, at higher levels...
Beyond the obvious risk of nodding off at the wheel, I recall several times heading home on a very familiar route when I suddenly realize with a shock I have no idea where I am. Usually, after drifting along with the flow of traffic for ten or fifteen minutes I recognize a landmark and discover that I have been going the right way all along, but once or twice I was 20 miles or so past my exit, happily bouncing in my seat with the radio cranked.
posted by CynicalKnight at 6:21 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Even low levels of alcohol can encourage dangerous and deliberate stunt driving, whereas marijuana tends to make one a bit more cautious. But, at higher levels...
Beyond the obvious risk of nodding off at the wheel, I recall several times heading home on a very familiar route when I suddenly realize with a shock I have no idea where I am. Usually, after drifting along with the flow of traffic for ten or fifteen minutes I recognize a landmark and discover that I have been going the right way all along, but once or twice I was 20 miles or so past my exit, happily bouncing in my seat with the radio cranked.
posted by CynicalKnight at 6:21 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I do feel like a big difference from alcohol is that with cannabis, when you're too stoned to drive you probably know it. I've never seen a stoner get in a fight with their friends over their car keys. It doesn't impact one's judgement in quite the same way.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:35 AM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:35 AM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
I was recently stuck behind someone who was too high to use an ATM, so you can definitely be too high to drive.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:09 AM on September 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:09 AM on September 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
Open to weed strain suggestions from deadwax. I promise not to drive, but I might try out some escalators...
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 10:39 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 10:39 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
The solution to this is obvious: get high as fuck and ride bicycles.
posted by loquacious at 10:52 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 10:52 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Please don't drive stoned or drunk, okay?
Thanks.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:29 PM on September 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
Thanks.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:29 PM on September 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
Open to weed strain suggestions from deadwax.
Quantity more than quality, given I would have been about 21.
posted by deadwax at 3:30 PM on September 29, 2018
Quantity more than quality, given I would have been about 21.
posted by deadwax at 3:30 PM on September 29, 2018
Obviously different people experience being high differently (and certainly different strains have different effects), but the claims of enhanced (or at least not worsened) driving skills while high seem... sketchy at best. It's an absolute hard line for me - I'll drive after having a drink or two, but even a whiff of weed? Absolutely not. I've done it in the past and am horrified by the fact that I did it. I felt lucky to get to my destination alive.
ANYWAY, the video is freaking hilarious.
posted by obfuscation at 4:56 PM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
ANYWAY, the video is freaking hilarious.
posted by obfuscation at 4:56 PM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
ALSO I want to know. With the snack test. Would choosing the chips have indicated sobriety, or was going for either snack proof she was high? Cuz I must say even though I am generally a total sweets fiend, Doritos are a waaaaay better high snack.
posted by obfuscation at 7:08 PM on September 29, 2018
posted by obfuscation at 7:08 PM on September 29, 2018
You know your perspective's fucked so you just let your hands work the controls as if you were straight
posted by aubilenon at 9:21 PM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 9:21 PM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
The key is to smoke while driving. I know it sounds totally loony, but it's true. Since you were already actively occupying your brain with the task of driving and don't interrupt it, your brain just keeps on executing the driving task with much greater proficiency than if you get high and then drive.
(Back in my smoking days I lived out in the sticks down a dirt road whose daily traffic count consisted of me, my roommates, and the mailman, so I wasn't being a total menace to society, just my own, uninsured, property)
One nice thing about driving stick is that it's incredibly obvious when you're impaired if you bother to notice. You go from driving smooth as butter to being all jerky because you're letting the clutch back in a bit too late.
In all seriousness, though, there is going to be a huge problem with DUID arrests thanks to the lack of any quantitative test for impairment. Many severe alcoholics can drive better than you'd think when they're over the limit, but they get it just the same as anyone else and for good reason. That works out reasonably fairly because alcohol falls below detectable thresholds in a fairly short time.
THC tests of all types, on the other hand, are only useful for detecting historical use. They can't tell you anything at all about level of impairment because the metabolites tested for can hang around literally for months in even moderate smokers. In many states, any detectable metabolites in your blood means you're guilty of DUID, so consuming cannabis legally is essentially impossible if you ever drive a car or any other vehicle covered by DUI laws, which is basically all of them now. (Including riding a horse)
Worse, there are states where you can be arrested and charged with DUID even when the only evidence is a drug recognition "expert's" opinion. We're allowing the police to replace the current criminal underclass created by drug laws with another that is created by the intersection of new marijuana laws and DUID laws. Unfortunate that the default always seems to be in favor of abusive law enforcement these days.
posted by wierdo at 11:10 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
(Back in my smoking days I lived out in the sticks down a dirt road whose daily traffic count consisted of me, my roommates, and the mailman, so I wasn't being a total menace to society, just my own, uninsured, property)
One nice thing about driving stick is that it's incredibly obvious when you're impaired if you bother to notice. You go from driving smooth as butter to being all jerky because you're letting the clutch back in a bit too late.
In all seriousness, though, there is going to be a huge problem with DUID arrests thanks to the lack of any quantitative test for impairment. Many severe alcoholics can drive better than you'd think when they're over the limit, but they get it just the same as anyone else and for good reason. That works out reasonably fairly because alcohol falls below detectable thresholds in a fairly short time.
THC tests of all types, on the other hand, are only useful for detecting historical use. They can't tell you anything at all about level of impairment because the metabolites tested for can hang around literally for months in even moderate smokers. In many states, any detectable metabolites in your blood means you're guilty of DUID, so consuming cannabis legally is essentially impossible if you ever drive a car or any other vehicle covered by DUI laws, which is basically all of them now. (Including riding a horse)
Worse, there are states where you can be arrested and charged with DUID even when the only evidence is a drug recognition "expert's" opinion. We're allowing the police to replace the current criminal underclass created by drug laws with another that is created by the intersection of new marijuana laws and DUID laws. Unfortunate that the default always seems to be in favor of abusive law enforcement these days.
posted by wierdo at 11:10 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Please don't drive stoned or drunk, okay?
seriously -- focus on the fucking drunks, they're still killing people by the fucking thousands. We know this. It's indisputable. Alcohol is a reckless fucking drug. I love it. But I learned long ago not to trust it when it came to driving ... or anything that was important really.
posted by philip-random at 12:14 AM on September 30, 2018
seriously -- focus on the fucking drunks, they're still killing people by the fucking thousands. We know this. It's indisputable. Alcohol is a reckless fucking drug. I love it. But I learned long ago not to trust it when it came to driving ... or anything that was important really.
posted by philip-random at 12:14 AM on September 30, 2018
You shouldn't be high while driving. However, I've found that getting high is often a precursor to not going anywhere, driving or anything. Drinking is normalized in our culture and is especially something you do out and about. My rejoinder to people pearl-clutching over marijuana and how dangerous it is is to point out that you never hear about a guy getting high and beating up his wife. Alcohol and domestic violence go hand in hand. Alcohol or alcohol + impairments are a huge problem with driving. Phone use and driving-so bad!!
Love the kazoo.
posted by amanda at 10:52 AM on September 30, 2018
Love the kazoo.
posted by amanda at 10:52 AM on September 30, 2018
"the claims of enhanced (or at least not worsened) driving skills while high seem... sketchy at best." Agreed that it's best not to trust stoners' reports, or "anecdopes" as they're called nowadays.
posted by sneebler at 2:21 PM on September 30, 2018
posted by sneebler at 2:21 PM on September 30, 2018
If driving while high was really that dangerous there would be no road musicians left.
/former road musician
posted by spitbull at 7:56 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
/former road musician
posted by spitbull at 7:56 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:48 PM on September 28, 2018 [8 favorites]