Marijuana Fuels Surge in Drugged Driving Deaths

[Irish Zionist]

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/international-statistics.html
INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS
    Over 94 million people in the US have admitted using it at least once.
    According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2.1 million people in the US abused marijuana for the first time that year.
    Among 12- to 17-year-olds, 6.7% were current marijuana users in 2007.
    According to US government estimates, domestic marijuana production has increased tenfold over the last twenty-five years: from 1,000 metric tons (2.2 million pounds) in 1981 to 10,000 metric tons (22 million pounds) in 2006. Not surprisingly, 58% of those aged 12 to 17 state that pot is easy to obtain. US marijuana users spent approximately $10.5 billion on the drug in the year 2000.
    In 2005, 242,200 emergency room visits in the United States involved marijuana.
    According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, a large percentage of those arrested for crimes test positive for marijuana. Nationwide, 40% of adult males tested positive at the time of their arrest.
    Of adults 26 or older who used marijuana before age 15, 62% went on to use cocaine at some point in their lives; 9% went on to use heroin at least once; and 54% made some nonmedical use of mind-altering prescription drugs.
    Next to alcohol, marijuana is the second most frequently found substance in the bodies of drivers involved in fatal automobile accidents.

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/it-s-background.html#alcohol
ALCOHOL VS. MARIJUANA

Is smoking a joint the same as drinking alcohol?

You decide. Here are the facts:

Alcohol consists of one substance only: ethanol. Marijuana contains more than 400 known chemicals, including the same cancer-causing substances found in tobacco smoke. Unlike cigarette smokers, pot smokers tend to inhale deeply and hold the smoke as long as possible to increase the effect of the drug, worsening the damage to the lungs.

Alcohol is eliminated from the body in a few hours, but THC stays in the body for weeks, possibly months, depending on the length and intensity of usage.
THC damages the immune system. Alcohol does not.

There is no intention here to minimize the dangers of alcohol abuse, which can be equally harmful. Users, however, need to be aware that the chemicals in marijuana, some of them cancer-causing, remain in the body long after the drug is taken.

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/short-and-long-term-effects.html
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS

    Sensory distortion
    Panic
    Anxiety
    Poor coordination of movement
    Lowered reaction time
    After an initial “up,” the user feels sleepy or depressed
    Increased heartbeat (and risk of heart attack)

LONG-term effects of marijuana

    Reduced resistance to common illnesses (colds, bronchitis, etc.)
    Suppression of the immune system
    Growth disorders
    Increase of abnormally structured cells in the body
    Reduction of male sex hormones
    Rapid destruction of lung fibers and lesions (injuries) to the brain could be permanent
    Reduced sexual capacity
    Study difficulties: reduced ability to learn and retain information
    Apathy, drowsiness, lack of motivation
    Personality and mood changes
    Inability to understand things clearly
     
                 
                                                                                      Pauls Story
“Then I started having negative feelings about myself and my own abilities. I hated the paranoia. I hated looking over my shoulder all the time. I really hated not trusting my friends. I became so paranoid that I successfully drove everyone away and found myself in the terrible place no one wants to be in—I was alone. I’d wake up in the morning and start using and keep using throughout the day.”

[nessuno]

bc3,

You don't know what you are talking about, to put it bluntly...

I know better than you. But I have no need to prove anything to you.

Enough with this topic.

The facts will be known, whether you like it or not.

Are YOUR experiences the basis how the world works?
Is that it?  Well, I can say to you...You don't know what you are talking about.  I can speak from experience.  Years and years of it.  So I will risk being proved wrong about the recreational use of any drug and stand by my opinion.

[nessuno]

And one other thought... Why do.all those recreational pot smoker, (the ones who are productive, pay taxes and raise families) who smoke on weekends or a few times a year, freak out when their kids pick up the same habit?  I always wondered about that.  What about this simple relaxation method scares them?

[cjd]

And so were the others FACT... And like all science it is only FACT if the study is reproducable.

I can post other studies here which have shown otherwise... But this argument is getting old.

I know for a fact because in 1993 I beat a DWI pot charge very easily. We presented the scientific studies at the time and showed that there was no correlation between use and impaired driving. Granted that was 20 years ago but I doubt that things have changed that much in that time. I also have been looking on google and found some other studies which support my position.

Once again my position, which has not changed during my JTF involvement, is that recreational use should not be legalized. But that medical use (by doctors prescription) should be permitted.

I know you will discount NORML's presentation of the scientific findings on the topic, but I will post it here anyhow....

http://norml.org/library/item/marijuana-and-driving-a-review-of-the-scientific-evidence

Most pot smokers I have known over the years would have been far better off if they never touched the stuff... Long term pot smokers battle two addictions not one... They need the high but they also tend to get a smokers addiction in many cases... Unlike drinking people who smoke pot can have a little smoke now and then throughout the day without it being quickly detected... Spend a little time around a pot smoker and it will quickly become clear how screwed up they actually are...The portability of the drug is what makes it worse than a drinking addiction... People who drink in most cases know they can't show up on the job under the influence  or go in with the thought of drinking during working hours without in most cases having it detected... Many pot smokers on the other hand do just that...  Personally I would not get into a car, bus, or any other form of transportation with a drunk at the wheel however it's not always so easy to detect someone who might be just as impaired by pot... The best thing the government did some years back was to push drug testing for people in the transportation industry... This testing is not fool proof however it gets a lot of the more sloppy drug users out of the picture... From what I have seen over the years is that pot tends to make it's users lazy and less focused on the larger picture around them... Dedicated users tend to be concerned on getting through the day and getting to the next opportunity to light up... I have been to the homes of a few people I know who indulge and have found the homes habitable but unkempt similar to that of hard core drunks... The convenience of the drug make it to easy to indulge through out the day and all but the most basic tasks seem to be pushed to the back burner... Personally I could care less if pot smokers smoked themselves to death sadly their addictions have consequences for the innocent bystander they often come into contact with.

[cjd]

And so were the others FACT... And like all science it is only FACT if the study is reproducable.

I can post other studies here which have shown otherwise... But this argument is getting old.

I know for a fact because in 1993 I beat a DWI pot charge very easily. We presented the scientific studies at the time and showed that there was no correlation between use and impaired driving. Granted that was 20 years ago but I doubt that things have changed that much in that time. I also have been looking on google and found some other studies which support my position.

Once again my position, which has not changed during my JTF involvement, is that recreational use should not be legalized. But that medical use (by doctors prescription) should be permitted.

I know you will discount NORML's presentation of the scientific findings on the topic, but I will post it here anyhow....

http://norml.org/library/item/marijuana-and-driving-a-review-of-the-scientific-evidence

Have mercy  I hope you don't mean them store front doctors out in Ca. that are dispensing the garbage like legalized pushers... Or worse the poor family doctors who are browbeaten into giving an Rx so they don't have to continue listening to the chronic [censored] and moaning 

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

While I agree in theory it is dangerous to drive under the influence of marijuana and it probably will cause more crashes, however these reports don't prove that point.  Correlation is not (necessarily) causation..

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

While I agree in theory it is dangerous to drive under the influence of marijuana and it probably will cause more crashes, however these reports don't prove that point.  Correlation is not (necessarily) causation..

More mind-altering drugs mean more incidents involving them, no?

[Irish Zionist]

More mind-altering drugs mean more incidents involving them, no?

It's like talking to brick walls. Some people don't realize the danger until it smacks them right in the face.

[Debbie Shafer]

We all knew there would be more traffic accidents, and fatal occurrences from more drugs on the streets...all part of toppling America. 

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

More mind-altering drugs mean more incidents involving them, no?

I would think so, yes.  That said, the statistics cited here don't prove anything.   Because now that the drug is legalized more people will be smoking it.  There were already x number of accidents per year, now a greater percentage of those accidents involve people with this in their system, since more people smoke, the chances are higher that a person involved in an accident will have it in their system, but that doesn't prove that there was causation involved.  A different kind of study needed.

For example, now that more people smoke weed, a higher percentage of people dying from heart attacks will be found to have weed in their system.  Doesn't mean weed is causing heart attacks.  That's a logical fallacy.  BUT it should be obvious that people can't drive as well or with proper judgement wheen under influence of any drug, and that's dangerous.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

I would think so, yes.  That said, the statistics cited here don't prove anything.   Because now that the drug is legalized more people will be smoking it.  There were already x number of accidents per year, now a greater percentage of those accidents involve people with this in their system, since more people smoke, the chances are higher that a person involved in an accident will have it in their system, but that doesn't prove that there was causation involved.  A different kind of study needed.

For example, now that more people smoke weed, a higher percentage of people dying from heart attacks will be found to have weed in their system.  Doesn't mean weed is causing heart attacks.  That's a logical fallacy.  BUT it should be obvious that people can't drive as well or with proper judgement wheen under influence of any drug, and that's dangerous.

I hear what you are saying, but a couple people here were going way farther than that, and trying to argue that weed is completely harmless and misunderstood.

[Zelhar]

It's like talking to brick walls. Some people don't realize the danger until it smacks them right in the face.

I recognize danger and I think people should basically be free to take informed decisions regarding their lives, including destructive ones. I think restricting liberty hurts some people and benefits others but the bottom line is you should try to minimize the invasiveness and interference by government and law on peoples lives and choices.

Why won't you by the same logic ban flying ultra-lite airplanes and riding motorcycles?

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

I recognize danger and I think people should basically be free to take informed decisions regarding their lives, including destructive ones. I think restricting liberty hurts some people and benefits others but the bottom line is you should try to minimize the invasiveness and interference by government and law on peoples lives and choices.

Why won't you by the same logic ban flying ultra-lite airplanes and riding motorcycles?

Where have you been?

[angryChineseKahanist]

I recognize danger and I think people should basically be free to take informed decisions regarding their lives, including destructive ones. I think restricting liberty hurts some people and benefits others but the bottom line is you should try to minimize the invasiveness and interference by government and law on peoples lives and choices.

Why won't you by the same logic ban flying ultra-lite airplanes and riding motorcycles?

glad you're alive and kicking!

BTW Bikers who follow rules live long lives.

[Zelhar]

Where have you been?

I have been (still am) abroad, in London.